Novak Djokovic urged tennis authorities to overhala the anti-doping system of the game, with the top stars Jannik Sinner and IGA Swetech-related matters to “discrepancies”. File photo | Photo Credit: Vince Caliguri
Novak Djokovic on Monday urged tennis authorities to overhala the anti-doping system of the game, pointing to “discrepancies” in cases related to top stars Pronounced sinner And IGA Swiatek and lower place players.
World number one sinner agreed to the three -month ban on Saturday, accepting the “partial responsibility” for mistakes by his team, which led to a twice a positive test for clostabol mark in March last year.
Sinner was facing a two-year possible ban, when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced in August, the Court of Orbitration for Sport (CAS) against its initial exemption by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) Appeal to
In a stunning step, Wada withdrew his appeal and signed an agreement with the sinner to accept the three -month ban.
Last year, in another high-profile case, five-time Grand Slam Champion Swiyatech accepted a month’s ban after a positive test for the banned heart drug trimetazidine.
“Most of the players that I have talked to in the locker room, not only in the last few days, but also in the last few months, are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled,” Djokovic said.
“Most players do not feel that this is appropriate. Most players feel that it seems. It seems that if you are a top player, you can almost affect the result. , If you have access to the top lawyers. “
In contrast, recently retired Simona Hallep, a former World Number One, was banned by ITIA in 2022, after a positive testing for blood-boosting drug Roxadstat.
He argued that this was the result of a tainted supplement and appealed to the Mediastial Court of Arbitration for successfully the game, which led to his suspension nine months.
“Simona Halep and (Britain’s) Tara Moore and some other players who are probably less known to have been struggling to resolve their affairs, or have received restrictions over the years,” Djokovic said.
“There are too much anomalies between cases.”
Djokovic, who is returning to action this week at Qatar Open after being injured from last month’s Australian Open semi -final, believes that a change is needed.
He said, “Right now it is a ripe time for us to actually address the system, as the system and structure clearly do not work doping anti (for), it is clear,” he said.
“I hope that in the next period of the near future that governing bodies are coming with our tourism and tennis ecosystem, and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes.
“It is incompatible, and it seems very unfair.”
“If you are going to treat every case individually or independently, which is happening, there is no stability, there is no transparency, and some cases are transparent,” Continued.
“The problem is that at present, both tennis players, men and women, Wada and Itia and the whole process generally lack trust.”
MW/GJ
Published – February 18, 2025 12:57 am IST
