(Reuters) -The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against an independent tribunal’s decision in August to clear tennis world number one Jannik Sinner of wrongdoing after he failed drug tests.
WADA said on Saturday the tribunal’s finding of “no fault or negligence” on Sinner’s part was incorrect under the applicable rules, and it would seek “a period of ineligibility of between one and two years” for the Australian Open and U.S. Open champion.
The tribunal, organised by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, had accepted Sinner’s explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
The ITIA said in a statement on Saturday: “The process was run according to World Anti-Doping Code guidelines; however, the ITIA acknowledges and respects WADA’s right to appeal the independent tribunal’s decision.”
Sinner said his physio, Giacomo Naldi, applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his skin to treat a small finger wound and then administered massages between March 5 and 13 without using gloves, according to the ITIA.
Italy’s Sinner, the latest tennis player to become embroiled in a doping case after twice major winner Simona Halep, has maintained his innocence, saying the amount of clostebol found in his system was less than a billionth of a gram. He fired his trainer and physio in August.
Some players criticised the verdict. Britain’s Tara Moore, who was sidelined for 19 months for failing a drug test before being cleared last year, cited the contrast between her case and Sinner’s.
“I guess only the top players’ images matter,” Moore wrote on social media.
Sinner’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on WADA’s appeal. He is in Beijing defending his China Open title, where he beat Roman Saifullin 3-6 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals on Saturday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and William Mallard)
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