Doha, Qatar – Novak Djokovic says that most tennis players have lost faith in the anti -doping authorities after the three -month prohibition of Jannik Sinner, and there is a generalized feeling that “favoritism” is showing the greatest stars of sport.
The 24 -time important winner asked the World Anti -Doping Agency and the International Tennis Integrity Agency to review its processes to deal with doping cases “because the system and structure obviously do not work.”
“At this time there is a lack of confidence generally of the tennis players, both men and women, towards Wada and Itia and the whole process,” Djokovic said in the Qatar Open.
Best classified sinner He reached an agreement with La Ama On Saturday to accept a prohibition that will make it play again for the France Open in May without having to miss a single Grand Slam tournament. Which occurred after the International Tennis Integrity Agency had decided not suspend Sinner For what he judged was accidental pollution for an anabolic steroid prohibited last March.
Sinner’s brief prohibition occurred after a five -time Grand Slam champion IGA Swiatek He accepted a suspension of one month in November after positive for a forbidden substance that, according to her, was accidentally consumed due to a drug without contaminated recipe. Both prohibitions are much shorter than other athletes in tennis and in other sports have normally received in similar cases.
“It’s not a good image for our sport, that’s safe,” said Djokovic, the old number 1 in male tennis. “There are a majority of the players with whom I have spoken in the locker room, not only in recent days, but also in recent months, which are not happy with the way in which this whole process (for SINNER) has been managed.
“Most players do not feel it is fair. Most players feel favoritism is happening. It seems that you can almost affect the result if you are the best player, if you have access to the main lawyers and none of that.”
Sinner had been scheduled to play in Qatar before accepting the ban.
The management of the case of Sinner had already raised Questions about the double standardAnd when the prohibition was announced It was widely criticized For other players. Positive evidence did not reveal publicly until August because Sinner successfully appealed that they were not forbidden to play provisionally. Then he won the US Open in September and the Australian Open in January.
The explanation of Sinner for the positive test was that traces of clostebol in his doping sample was due to a massage of a coach who used the substance after cutting his own finger, which Wada accepted.
Djokovic said he did not question the innocence of Sinner and Swiatek, but that he and other players are frustrated by the inconsistent management of doping cases.
He pointed out the case of former female No. 1 of Simona Halep, whom the ITIA gave a four -year prohibition in 2022 after a positive test before he was later reduced to nine months, and the British player Tara Moore, who, which It was suspended May 2022, while an investigation lasted 18 months before an independent court determined that its positive evidence for a prohibited substance was caused by contaminated meat.
“At this time, it is a mature time for us to really address the system, because the system and structure obviously do not work, it is obvious,” said Djokovic. “Then, I hope that in the … near future it will be the government that governs the bodies will join our tours and the tennis ecosystem and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes.”
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