World tennis number one Jannik Sinner handed three-month ban for doping
15 February 2025, 11:01
World tennis number one Jannik Sinner has been handed an immediate three-month ban over two positive drug tests last year.
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The 23-year-old Italian, who last month won the Australian Open, has been given a suspension from February 9 until May 4.
He will be eligible to play in the year's next Grand Slam, the French Open, which starts on May 19 at Roland Garros.
In a statement on Saturday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which had appealed against the decision to clear Sinner to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), said it accepted Sinner's explanation that he was inadvertently contaminated with the banned substance clostebol by his physio.
WADA accepted that 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 negligence of members of his entourage".
The statement 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."
Sinner previously said he was "very disappointed and also surprised" when WADA appealed against an independent tribunal's ruling of "no fault or negligence" for his two positive tests.
At the time, WADA sought to impose a ban of between one and two years.
