Doha, Qatar (AP) – Novak Djokovic says that a majority of tennis players have lost confidence in the anti -doping authorities after the ban by Jannik Sinner, and there is a general feeling that “favoritism” is shown to the greatest Sports stars.
The 24 -time major winner called on the World Anti -Doping and International Tennis Integrity Agency agency to revise their processes to deal with doping cases “because the system and structure obviously do not work”.
“Right now, there is a lack of confidence in general tennis, male and female players, towards Wada and Itia and the whole process,” said Djokovic during the Qatar Open.
High -level sinner reached an agreement with the AMA Saturday to accept a ban that will make him come back in time for the French Open in May without having to miss a single Grand Slam tournament. Who came after the International Tennis Integrity Agency had decided do not suspend the sinner For what he judged, it is accidental contamination by an anabolic steroid prohibited last March.
Sinner’s short ban came after fivefold champion of the Grand Slam IGA SwiTEK accepted a suspension of one month in November after having tested positive for a prohibited substance which, according to her, was accidentally consumed due to a non-sales contaminated medication. The two prohibitions are much shorter than other tennis athletes and in other sports have normally received in similar cases.
“This is not a good image for our sport, that’s for sure,” said Djokovic, the n ° 1 for a long time of male tennis. “There is a majority of players I spoke in the locker room, not only in the past few days, but also in the last months, who are not satisfied with the way this whole process (for the sinner) has been managed.
“A majority of players do not think it’s right. A majority of players have the impression that there is favoritism. It seems that you can almost affect the result if you are a leading player, if you have access to the best lawyers and so on. “
The sinner had to play Qatar before accepting the ban.
The treatment of the sinner case had already raised Questions about standard doublesAnd when the ban was announced He was widely criticized by other players. The positive tests were only publicly revealed until August because Sinner managed to call on the prohibition temporarily to play. He then won the US Open in September and the Australian Open in January.
The explanation of the sinner of the positive test was that the traces of Clostebol in his doping sample were due to a massage of a coach who used the substance after having cut his own finger, which the AMA accepted.
Djokovic said he had not questioned Sinner and Swiatek innocence, but that he and other players are frustrated by the incoherent manipulation of doping cases.
He underlined the case of the former feminine n ° 1 Simona Halep – who received a prohibition of four years by the ITIA in 2022 after a positive test before it was reduced later to nine months – and the British player Tara Moore, who was suspended May 2022 while an investigation lasted 18 months before an independent court determined only his positive test for a prohibited substance was caused by contaminated meat.
“Right now, it’s a mature moment for us to really approach the system, because the system and the structure obviously do not work, it’s obvious,” said Djokovic. “The bodies will come together with our tours and the tennis ecosystem and try to find a more effective way to manage these processes.”
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