By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Monday, January 20, 2025
Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty
Iga Swiatek will face no further punishment after testing positive for the banned substance TMZ.
WADA announced today that it will not file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Swiatek’s case.
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Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek served a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) at an out-of-competition tournament in August.
WADA said it has “conducted a thorough review” of the case and is not appealing the decision because it accepts Swiatek’s claim of contamination through melatonin.
“On November 28, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the independent body that provides anti-doping programs on behalf of the International Tennis Federation, announced that Ms. Świątek had accepted a one-month period of ineligibility after ITIA determined that the test of her positive test for TMZ was caused by a contaminated melatonin product that is regulated as a drug in Poland and was obtained from a reputable pharmacy in that country,” WADA said in a statement. “WADA has a full review of the case file related to ITIA’s decision, which it received on November 29.
“WADA’s scientific experts have confirmed that the specific scenario of contaminated melatonin, as presented by the athlete and accepted by the ITIA, is plausible and that there would be no scientific reason to dispute it at CAS. Further, WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s contamination explanation was well established, that the ITIA’s decision was consistent with the World Anti-Doping Code, and that there was no basis reasonable to appeal it to CAS.”
The second winner Swiatek, who will face the American Emma Navarro in the Australian Open quarterfinals, said she was pleased to have closure.
“I’m glad to have closure and I want to focus on the tournament now, so it’s good that the process is over,” Swiatek said.
