Last September 28, WADA filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, requesting a period of disqualification for Jannik Sinner of between one and two years.
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The Italian had been acquitted of doping charges for the positive test - which occurred due to involuntary contamination - for Clostebol by ITIA, but the World Anti-Doping Agency believes that the definition of absence of fault or negligence was not fair, considering the rules applicable to the case. An appeal that became official after the match won by the Italian in Beijing against Roman Safiullin.
In the meantime, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has published the list of all the hearings that will take place in the coming months and up to February 11, 2025. Among these, the one concerning the current ATP No. 1 is not yet included. This means that Sinner's hearing will certainly be held after that date.
There are two tournaments that the Italian will play within that period: the Australian Open, where he won the historic first Slam of his career, and the ATP 500 ABN AMRO in Rotterdam.
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But the most interesting words, which can be applied to both Sinner and Iga Swiatek's doping matters, came from WADA director general Olivier Niggli, who, interviewed by Lquipe, opened up about possible changes to the regulations regarding tennis players found positive for infinitesimal quantities of doping substances, which occurred after involuntary contamination.
"Today there is a contamination problem. This does not mean that there are more cases of this kind than in the past, the fact is that laboratories are more efficient in detecting even infinitesimal quantities of substances. The quantities are so small that you can get contaminated by doing harmless things. The truth is that we hear a lot of stories and I understand the public opinion that can end up thinking that we take everything. With thresholds we would not have seen all these cases. What we need to understand is whether we are ready to accept microdosing and where it is right to stop. A working table will be created precisely for this type of reflection," he explained.
