By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 10, 2024
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear WADA's appeal of Jannik Sinner's doping case in April. The Italian faces a potential 1-2 year ban.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 10, 2025
The appeal of the World Anti Doping Agency against the ITIA’s ruling on Jannik Sinner’s case will be heard in April, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced.
Roddick: Every Chance Australia Is Sinner's Last Event for Six Months
In a media release, the CAS said:
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has scheduled the hearing for the arbitration procedure World Anti-Doping Agency v. Jannik Sinner, International Tennis Integrity Agency and International Tennis Federation on 16 and 17 April 2025 at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. No parties requested a public hearing and it will be conducted behind closed doors.”
In September, it was announced that WADA had elected to appeal the ITIA’s (International Tennis Integrity Agency) ruling of “no fault or negligence” for Sinner. They are seeking a ban of 1-2 years for the Italian.
Sinner tested positive twice for the banned substance Clostebol, but he was ruled to not be at fault due to the fact that the substance entered his system unbeknownst to him, via skin contact with his physiotherapist.
WADA believes that Sinner should bear some fault for the two positive tests.
“It is WADA’s view that the finding of “no fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules," WADA said in a statement in late September.
Sinner won the 2024 US Open just weeks after announcing that he had been provisionally suspended twice earlier in the year, and handled all the pressure that comes with his extraordinary case exceptionally well.
Asked by a reporter how he is able to compartmentalize so well in Melbourne on Friday, Sinner said: “In my mind I know exactly what happened, and that's how I block it, no? I haven't done anything wrong. That's why I'm still here. That's why I'm still playing.”
The 23-year-old world No.1 is the top seed at the Australian Open and will begin his title defense with a first-round clash with Nicolas Jarry of Chile.
“I know exactly as much as you guys know,” he said. “We are in a stage where we don't know many, many things. Yeah, you think about this, of course. I would lie if I would tell you I forget. No, it's not like this. It's something that I have with me now already for quite a long time.
“But it is what it is. I'm here trying to prepare for the Grand Slam. Let's see how it goes.”