Brad Gilbert, former coach of Andre Agassi and Coco Gauff, has said he is shocked by WADA's decision to appeal against to Jannik Sinner's doping issue ITIA sentence.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed that it has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday, September 26, in the case of the Italian tennis player, who was found by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to be without fault or negligence for testing positive twice for Clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024.
WADA believes that the finding of no fault or negligenceby the Italian player currently number 1 in the world is not correct under the current rules and is therefore asking for a period of disqualification of between 1 and 2 years.
There have obviously been many reactions to this decision in the last few hours, which have literally divided the tennis world. Gilbert reacted to this request and posted his thoughts in a post on his X profile, writing:
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"I am completely shocked by this decision by WADA, the dose was 8,000 times less than a gram of salt. Unfortunately, it will take months to understand where it is the association representing the players in this case, in addition to Sin City paying its own lawyers?"
Jannik instead released a harsh statement in which he stressed that he was very disappointed by WADA's decision.
"I am disappointed that WADA has chosen to appeal the ITIA ruling after independent adjudicators exonerated me and declared me innocent. Over the past few months and during this process, there have been three separate hearings that have confirmed my innocence. Several months of interviews and investigations culminated with three experts going through every detail in a formal hearing. They issued a thorough ruling explaining why they determined I was not at fault, with clear evidence provided and my cooperation throughout. Based on such a robust process, both the ITIA and the Italian Anti-Doping Authority accepted the explanations and waived their right to appeal. I understand that these matters need to be thoroughly investigated to maintain the integrity of the sport we all love. However, it is difficult to understand what will be achieved by asking a different panel of three adjudicators to look at the same facts and documents again. That said, I have nothing to hide and, as I have done all summer, I will cooperate fully with the appeal process and provide whatever may be necessary to once again prove my innocence. As the case is now awaiting adjudication at CAS, I will not comment further," he wrote.
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WADA motivated its decision to appeal through the following official statement:
"The World Anti-Doping Agency confirms that it has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday 26 September in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, who was found by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to be without fault or negligence for having tested positive twice for Clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024. WADA believes that the finding of 'no fault or negligence' is not correct under the current rules and is therefore seeking a period of ineligibility of between 1 and 2 years. WADA is not seeking disqualification for any result, other than that already imposed by the first instance tribunal. As the matter is now pending before CAS, WADA will not comment further at this time."
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