In an interview with Tennis Actu, the Frenchman Lucas Pouille has harshly attacked Jannik Sinner, after what happened around the Italian and his team in relation to the Clostebol doping-issue.
According to what the Frenchman reported, every tennis player is responsible for everything that enters the body, even when the mistake could be made by one of the team members.
"We are lost in the different governing bodies. In addition to those that govern this sector, the tennis circuit already includes the ATP, the WTA, the ITF and the Grand Slam tournaments. Jannik Sinner was acquitted by an independent tribunal and now the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed to the CAS in Lausanne. Once again, we are going in so many different directions. We really don't know what is happening.
Are there double standards? I would say so. Sinner was acquitted, good for him. I don't think he took any substance intentionally. He is a tennis player that I like a lot and that I love watching when he plays, but personally when you sign the anti-doping documents you are responsible for everything that goes into your body. We are not talking about a small substance. He had a minimal amount of the substance in his body, but he remains lucky," explained Pouille.
Jannik's doping-issue
Sinner spoke about the WADA appeal at the Shanghai Rolex Masters media day, sharing his disappointment with the World Anti-Doping Agency's request, stressing that he will cooperate in any case.
"I already spoke about it in Beijing, it was something that surprised me but I knew that this possibility was there. I will cooperate as I have always done, but let's see. I am confident that this situation will be resolved positively and I would be very surprised if it were not so," he explained.
In the meantime, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced with an official statement published on the evening of Friday 4 October the start of the proceedings relating to the Jannik Sinner case after WADA's appeal against the acquittal of the Italian tennis player who was not disqualified after the two positive Clostebol tests last March.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered the statement of appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the decision issued by the independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of 19 August 2024 in which it was established that the Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner had committed two anti-doping rule violations for which he had no fault or negligence (presence of Clostebol metabolites, a steroid and a prohibited substance), and for which he was not imposed any period of Ineligibility.
The player, the ITIA and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) were informed of the CAS appeal. In its appeal to the CAS, WADA seeks the annulment of the contested decision and a new decision establishing that Jannik Sinner committed two anti-doping rule violations without the application of Article 10.5 TADP ("No Fault or Negligence"). WADA requests the CAS to impose on Sinner a sanction of one period of ineligibility ranging from one to two years and to uphold the ineligibility of all competitive results obtained by Jannik Sinner during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells/USA.
The arbitration proceedings at CAS have begun. In accordance with the Code of Arbitration for Sport, the arbitration rules governing CAS proceedings, the parties exchange written submissions and an arbitration panel is constituted to decide the matter. Once constituted, the panel will issue procedural directions for the next stage of the proceedings, including the conduct of the hearing. At the end of the hearing, the panel will deliberate and issue an arbitral award containing its decision and the reasons for it. At this time, it is not possible to indicate a time frame for issuing the decision. The decision of the CAS Panel will be final and binding, except for the right of the parties to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court within 30 days on limited grounds," we can read in the CAS press release.
