Top-ranked Jannik Sinner gets three-month ban in settlement of doping case

Topranked tennis player Jannik Sinner has accepted a threemonth ban in a settlement with the World AntiDoping Agency over his two positive doping tests the organization said SaturdayWADA which was seeking to ban Sinner from the sport for at least one year had challenged a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what the ITIA judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last MarchSinners explanation mdash that trace amounts of Clostebol in his doping sample was due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger mdash had been acceptedThe 23yearold Italian who won the Australian Open in January will be eligible to compete in the next Grand Slam The French Open begins May 25This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the yearrdquo Sinner said in a statement ldquoI have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADAs strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love On that basis I have accepted WADAs offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a 3month sanctionrdquo WADA had originally appealed the ITIAs ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne Switzerland It has formally withdrawn the appealldquoWADA accepts the athletes explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision WADA accepts that Mr Sinner did not intend to cheat and that his exposure to Clostebol did not provide any performanceenhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entouragerdquo it said in Saturdays announcementldquoHoweverrdquo the WADA statement continued ldquounder the code and by virtue of CAS precedent an athlete bears responsibility for the entourages negligence Based on the unique set of facts of this case a threemonth suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome As previously stated WADA did not seek a disqualification of any results save that which was previously imposed by the tribunal of first instancerdquo WADA added that the International Tennis Federation and ITIA ldquoboth corespondents to WADAs CAS appeal neither of which appealed the firstinstance decision both accepted the case resolution agreementrdquo On Friday Sinner posted a video on Instagram of himself training in Doha at the Qatar Open which starts next weekThe suspension is from Feb 9 to May 4Sinner could return at his home tournament the Italian Open in Rome which starts May 7Italian Tennis and Padel Federation president Angelo Binaghi noted that while the case was ldquoa shameful injusticerdquo the ban will mark ldquothe end of a nightmarerdquo for SinnerBinaghi adds that the settlement ldquodemonstrates Janniks innocencerdquo and that ldquoall of Italyrdquo will welcome him back at the Italian OpenThe ITIA said it acknowledged the settlement but in its statement Saturday reiterated that ldquowe were satisfied that the player had established the source of the prohibited substance and that the breach was unintentional Todays outcome supports this findingrdquo Sinners Londonbased lawyer Jamie Singer commented ldquoI am delighted that Jannik can finally put this harrowing experience behind him WADA has confirmed the facts determined by the Independent Tribunal It is clear that Jannik had no intent no knowledge and gained no competitive advantage Regrettably errors made by members of his team led to this situationWith agency inputs