World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has agreed to a three -month ban from tennis for breaking anti -doping rules, efficiently immediately.
Sinner, who won the Australian Open last month, was sanctioned in August with minimal penalties after two positive tests for Clostebol, a forbidden anabolic steroid. At that time, International Tennis Integrity Agency said that the 23-year-old Italian was not wrong.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency ITIA decision appealed the following month, and a hearing at the Court for Sports Arbitration was set for April. The agreement between the sinning camp and the agency cancel the negotiation.
Sinner’s will not be allowed to return to the competition until May 4 and can start training on April 13.
The samples submitted by the Italian at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells on March 10 and March 18 contained low levels of the prohibited topic of Clostebol, which violates the rules for doping, according to an independent court appointed by sports resolutions.
However, it was found that Clostebol went into Sinner’s system through a third party. A supporter member who had used a spray without a disk containing the substance to treat his own wound transferred it to sinners through therapy performed without gloves.
In a statement issued on Saturday morning, Sinner said he is happy that the settlement ends the question.
“This case had been hanging over me now for almost a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision perhaps only at the end of the year,” he said. “I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize that Wada’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that ground I have accepted Wada’s offer to solve these procedures on the basis of a 3-month sanction. “
The time of the ban means that Sinner will miss back-to-back ATP-Master 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in March and in Monte Carlo and Madrid in April. But he will be eligible to return to the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome in his home country, which starts on May 7.
Another two Clay-Court events follow before the French Open starts May 25, which means he will not miss any of the Grand Slam tournaments this season.
“Wada accepts that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to Clostebol did not provide any performance -enhancing advantage and took place without his knowledge as a result of negligence by members of his entourage,” the organization said in a claim.
“But under the code and by virtue of the CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts in this case, a three-month suspension is considered a suitable result.”
At the time of the ITIA decision, Sinner lost the ranking points and the $ 325,000 he served for his semi -final finish on Indian Wells last spring but was not banned from competition – a decision that did not do well with some at that time.
Or on Saturday.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, a tough critic last summer, wrote on social media on Saturday that Sinner’s team had done “Everything that is in its power to just go ahead and take a 3 -month ban, no titles lost.”
“Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Justice in tennis does not exist,” Kyrgios wrote to X.
“So Wada comes out and says it would be a 1-2 annual ban. Of course, Sinner’s team has done everything that is in its power to just go ahead and take a 3-month ban, no lost titles, no prize money lost. Not? Boring day for tennis.
Sinner is 7-0 this season and was 73-6 in 2024 and won eight of its 19 career titles, including the Australian Open, the US Open and Nitto ATP finals.
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