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 chatting with reporters on the Qatar Open, Djokovic mentioned that the sensation going across the sport was that there was some anger about how the state of affairs performed out for Sinner in comparison with others who’ve confronted related points.
“There’s a majority of the gamers that I’ve talked to within the locker room, not simply in the previous couple of days, but additionally previous few months, that aren’t pleased with the way in which this complete course of has been dealt with,” Djokovic mentioned, per the Guardian. “A majority of the gamers don’t really feel it’s truthful. A majority of the gamers really feel like there’s favoritism taking place. It seems you could virtually have an effect on the result in case you are a prime participant, when you have entry to the highest legal professionals.”
The tennis celebrity then pointed to the circumstances of Simona Halep and Tara Moore, who each have been handed extreme penalties by the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA) for related 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 diminished to 9 months.
“There may be a lot inconsistencies between the circumstances,” Djokovic mentioned. “Sinner has bought a suspension for 3 months due to errors and negligence of his crew 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 within the close to future the governing our bodies are going to come back collectively and attempt to discover a more practical approach to cope with these processes. It’s inconsistent, and it seems to be very unfair.”
WADA mentioned in a press release that accepted Sinner’s rationalization that he “didn’t intend to cheat, and that his publicity to clostebol didn’t present any performance-enhancing profit and happened with out his information as the results of the negligence of members of his entourage.”
“Nonetheless, underneath the Code and by advantage of CAS precedent, an athlete bears accountability for the entourage’s negligence,” the assertion additionally mentioned.
