Jannik Sinner suspended: Wada explains everything
Jannik Sinner suspended: Wada explains everything
During an interview given to the microphones of "La Stampa", World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) spokesman James Fitzgerald, among other topics, dwelt on the reasons that led to the disqualification of Jannik Sinner for three months for the Clostebol case.
"In September 2024, Wada had not accepted the Tennis Tribunal ruling and consequently appealed to the Tas because it did not consider the application of lack of fault or negligence to be correct because it lacked the element of the administration of the substance by support staff without the athlete being informed. In order to defend the'important principle that athletes are directly responsible for the actions of their team, Wada has decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport" began the Wada spokesman.
"After asking the Tas for a disqualification of between 12 and 24 months because the athleteé always bears responsibility for the behavior of his staff, Wada reviewed the whole thing and decided that based on the documents submitted by Sinner even the one-year penalty would be too severe. The facts of this case were truly unique and different from other cases involving the administration by the athlete's support staff. Indeed, in this case it was è transdermal absorption, as the athlete's masseur, unbeknownst to Jannik, had treated a cut on his finger with a product containing Clostebol" continued the Irish lawyer.
"After a thorough review of the case, Wada verified and agreed that the athlete's scenario was scientifically plausible and be documented on the facts. The dynamic had previously been accepted by the ITIA and the independent tribunal that decided the case in the first instance. Taking into account, in particular, the level of seriousness of the violation, given the specific facts, the Wada felt that a 12-month sanction for such a unique case would have been unduly severe,´ added the World Anti-Doping Agency spokesman.
"One of the main functions of Article 10.8.2 è is to ensure that unique cases that do not fall squarely within the sanctions framework can be judged appropriately and fairly. The legislation allows for a further reduction in the suspension period based on the level of severity of the specific violation as well as whether the athlete has admitted to the violation. This provision è has been used dozens of times in the thousands of cases adjudicated since the 2021 Code came into effect" concluded James Fitzgerald.
