New Delhi [India], February 15 : Italy's world number one tennis star, Jannik Sinner, has accepted a three-month suspension following a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over his two positive doping tests from last year, reported Olympics.com on Saturday.
According to the Olympics.com report, WADA confirmed that Sinner will serve his suspension from February 9 to May 4, making him eligible to return for the Italian Open, which begins on May 7.
This would allow the 23-year-old to compete in the upcoming French Open, starting on May 19. The report added that sinner, who has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open once, will aim to claim his first French Open title, having previously reached the semifinals last year.
Further, Olympic.com's report noted that WADA had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the International Tennis Integrity Unit initially cleared Sinner of wrongdoing following his positive test for the banned substance clostebol during last year's Indian Wells tournament.
Sinner claimed that the substance entered his system inadvertently through massages and sports therapy provided by a member of his support staff.
"WADA accepts that Mr Sinner did not intend to cheat and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of the negligence of members of his entourage," the WADA statement read as quoted by Olympics.com.
"However, under the Code and by CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage's negligence," the statement added.
Sinner is allowed to return to training activities from April 13, 2025, onwards. WADA has formally withdrawn its appeal to CAS.
"This case had been hanging over me for nearly a year, and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year," Sinner said.
"I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise WADA's strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis, I have accepted WADA's offer to resolve these proceedings based on a 3-month sanction," he added.
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