The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on Tuesday that it had not yet decided whether to appeal the non-suspension of world No. 1 tennis player Jannik Sinner, with the case “still under review.”
The Italian, who won the US Open on Sunday and was cleared after testing positive for a doping product (the anabolic agent clostebol), has not yet finished with this affair which is tarnishing his image.
The appeal deadline has not expired, the AMA said, and it has until the end of September to make a decision.
The Montreal-based organization clarified that “under the Code, WADA’s appeal deadline is 21 days after any other party has filed an appeal or 21 days after receipt of the file, whichever is later.”
“We received the file last week,” a spokesperson added to AFP.
Jannik Sinner tested positive for doping in March 2024 twice eight days apart: on March 10 during the Indian Wells tournament and on March 18 out of competition, but just before the Miami tournament. Trace amounts of clostebol (anabolic) were found in his urine.
The Italian defended himself by explaining that he had been “contaminated by a member of his staff, who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own hand to treat a small injury”, according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) which accepted his defense and officially cleared him at the end of August.
The player simply lost the ATP points and winnings from the tournament in which the positive test was recorded.
Sinner became the first world No. 1 to win at Flushing Meadows in the men’s category since Rafael Nadal in 2017, and the first Italian to lift the trophy in New York.