By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, September 30, 2024
Photo: BNL Internazionali d’Italia Facebook
WADA’s appeal for Jannik Sinner’s Steroid case not good for tennis, says Carlos Alcaraz.
Speaking to the media in Beijing, Alcaraz said the appeal is not good for the game because it creates confusion that comes after the world No.1 was initially found “not guilty” of the banned steroid clostebol in his system.
More: WADA appeals sinner’s doping case, seeks ban for world number 1
“I mean, after everything was decided, let’s say, before Cincinnati, that ITIA said that Jannik Sinner saying he did nothing wrong, and now he came back, he’s opened again,” Alcaraz said. “I think for tennis it’s not really good, it’s not a really good sign for tennis in general.
“It seems like something happened. But, you know, after a month, let’s say, I thought it was closed, everything will happen again, Jannik is innocent and they saw that Jannik did nothing wrong. So I I started thinking about him and I started thinking about myself.”
WADA is appealing Sinner’s steroid case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and is seeking a one- to two-year ban for the world No.1.
“It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” WADA said in a statement on Saturday. “WADA is seeking an ineligibility period of one to two years.
“WADA is not seeking disqualification of any result other than that already established by the court of first instance.”
WADA appeals the case of tennis player Jannik Sinner. Read more here: https://t.co/vExHGdmkZG
— WADA (@wada_ama) September 28, 2024
Sinner said he was “very disappointed” by WADA’s appeal.
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed and also surprised,” Sinner told media in Beijing. “We had three sessions.
“All three sessions were very positive for me. Maybe they just want to make sure everything is in the right position.”
Reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz said he was surprised by news of WADA’s appeal.
“This month I didn’t know what exactly happened,” Alcaraz said. “I just saw the news and it kind of surprised me, okay, what’s going on that the case is open again?
“I don’t know how the next few months will be. Certainly for tennis, it’s not a good sign.”
