World number one Jannik Sinner has accepted an immediate three-month ban from tennis after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency over his two positive drugs test last year.
The 23-year-old Italian, who last month won the Australian Open, is suspended from 9 February until 4 May.
He will be eligible to play in the year’s next Grand Slam event, the French Open, which starts on 19 May.
Wada had launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) over the 2024 decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) not to suspend Sinner.
Wada wanted a ban of up to two years but on Saturday said it accepts his explanation that he was inadvertently contaminated with the banned substance clostebol by his physiotherapist, and the case will now not take place.
The body explained it accepts the three-time Grand Slam champion “did not intend to cheat”, that the drug “did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit” and this happened “without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage”.
It added: “However, under the code and by virtue of Cas precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”
In a statement released by his lawyers, Sinner said: “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.
(BBC Sport)
