Unforced error? Sinner let off with three-month ban
New Delhi: It seems the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has done a very soft deal with Jannik Sinner, giving him just a three-month ban, effective from February 9 to May 4. In fact, the agreement between the two parties is so convenient, a majority of the tennis fraternity has lashed out at it as a farce or joke.
The sport of tennis was rocked by two big doping incidents in 2024, first of Sinner testing positive for clostebol and then Iga Swiatek being dealt with so kindly for a doping offence after she tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance. When Swiatek was let off lightly, everyone said the ITIA had been kind to her. Both Sinner and Swiatek competed at the Australian Open, with the former winning the title. Even as the world was speculating what would happen to Sinner as the WADA had dragged him to CAS (Court for Arbitration of Sports) and the hearing would take place in April, the Sinner and WADA pact has become a joke. It is clear the WADA has been kind to Sinner. So many athletes have been hauled over the coals. After all, the WADA was unhappy with the verdict given by ITIA and wanted to press for a four-year ban.
Yes, Sinner is high-profile but to think he is needed at all the Grand Slams is bizarre. The way the whole thing has been scripted and played out, the backlash from the tennis fraternity is massive. From cranky Nick Kyrgios to grand old man Stan Wawrinka and Briton Tim Henman, they are all mocking WADA. The general impression is the way the ban has been worked out, Sinner will be ready for the French Open. Imagine, a big player gets token punishment and does not miss one Grand Slam. At the same time, there are so many lesser-known tennis players who have faced longer bans and their careers wiped out. To be sure, it is not Sinner who deserves all the criticism, but the WADA. What was the compulsion they soft-pedalled on Sinner? Was it his giant stature or was it due to other compulsions is the buzz now. Whichever way one looks at it, people have lost faith in the anti-doping mechanism in place in tennis.
