Novak Djokovic Raises His Voice Against Injustice!
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has spoken out against how the sport’s governing bodies have handled the doping cases of Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Poland’s Iga Swiatek. Speaking from Doha, Qatar, Djokovic called for reforms in the anti-doping system of professional tennis.
Djokovic argued that lower-ranked players are treated differently from top-ranked stars, facing unfairness in certain cases. His comments came after Sinner, the world No. 1, avoided a harsher penalty by reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) last Saturday. Instead of facing a potential two-year suspension for testing positive twice for the banned substance clostebol, Sinner agreed to a ban lasting until May 4.
In March, Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol but was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which accepted his explanation that the substance entered his system when a physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a hand wound before massaging him. WADA, however, appealed the ruling, but with the recent settlement, Sinner escaped the possibility of a two-year suspension.
Last month, WADA also announced it would not appeal Swiatek’s one-month suspension following a positive test for a banned substance in mid-August 2024. WADA’s scientific experts deemed her explanation—accidental contamination—acceptable, concluding that there was no scientific basis to challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
These decisions did not sit well with Djokovic, who commented during the Doha International Tournament: “Most players I’ve spoken to in the locker room—not just in the past few days but over the past few months—are not happy with how this entire process was handled.”
He continued: “Most players don’t feel it was fair. Most players feel there is favoritism. It seems like you can almost influence the outcome if you are a top-tier player with access to the best lawyers.”
Unlike Sinner and Swiatek, retired Romanian player Simona Halep, a former world No. 1, was handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 2022 after testing positive for the prohibited substance Roxadustat. Halep argued that her failed test was due to a contaminated supplement and successfully appealed to CAS, which reduced her suspension to nine months.
Djokovic referenced Halep’s case, stating: “Simona Halep, Tara Moore (from Britain), and some other lesser-known players have struggled for years to resolve their cases or have been banned for years. There are too many inconsistencies between cases.”
Returning to competition for the first time since withdrawing from the Australian Open semifinals due to injury, Djokovic stressed the need for change: “Now is the time to fix the system because the structure and framework of anti-doping regulations are not working well—this is obvious.”
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