Novak Djokovic lamented the “favoritism” proven to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner over his three-month doping ban.
Sinner and the World Anti-Doping Company, or WADA, reached a settlement associated to 2 constructive drug exams he had in March 2024, which the Italian tennis star mentioned stemmed from a banned substance inadvertently administered to him by his former physio.
The settlement and three-month ban that begins now permits Sinner to be again in time to play within the Italian Open, and extra notably the French Open and Wimbledon.
Whereas talking to reporters on the Qatar Open, Djokovic mentioned that the sensation going across the sport was that there was some anger about how the scenario performed out for Sinner in comparison with others who’ve confronted comparable points.
“There’s a majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled,” Djokovic mentioned, per the Guardian. “A majority of the players don’t feel it’s fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favoritism happening. It appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers.”
The tennis celebrity then pointed to the instances of Simona Halep and Tara Moore, who each had been handed extreme penalties by the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA) for comparable transgressions.
Halep had been a former world No. 1 and was banned for 4 years by the ITIA in 2022 after she examined constructive for a banned substance however later had the suspension lowered to 9 months.
“There is so much inconsistencies between the cases,” Djokovic mentioned. “Sinner has bought a suspension for 3 months due to errors and negligence of his workforce members, who’re engaged on the tour. That is additionally one thing that I personally and plenty of different gamers discover unusual. Now it’s a ripe time for us to essentially tackle the system, as a result of the system and the construction clearly doesn’t work, anti-doping, it’s apparent.
“I hope that in the near future the governing bodies are going to come together and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes. It’s inconsistent, and it appears to be very unfair.”
WADA mentioned in an announcement that accepted Sinner’s rationalization that he “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.”
“However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence,” the assertion additionally mentioned.
