World No. 2 Novak Djokovic has demanded changes in anti-doping rules in tennis following top ranked Jannik Sinner evaded suspension despite testing positive for a banned performance-enhancer recently.
Djokovic said he understood why a few tennis players have questioned the double-standard of the rules after the Italian Sinner was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. The ITIA determined the banned performance-enhancer entered Sinner’s system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist.
The ruling was announced last Tuesday but Djokovic agreed with other players that there was “a lack of consistency”.
“I understand the frustration of the players is there, because of a lack of consistency,” defending US Open champion Djokovic said ahead of the tournament. “As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced.”
“We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same,” Djokovic added
‘Case of funds?’
Djokovic said the Professional Tennis Players Association that he co-founded advocates on behalf of players for clear and fair protocols and standardized approaches to cases.
“Many players … have had similar or pretty much the same cases, where they haven’t had the same outcome,” Djokovic said, “and now the question is whether it is a case of the funds — whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, said Sinner’s case was a delicate issue.
“I think there’s something behind this that a lot of people doesn’t know. I don’t even know. In the end it’s something very difficult to talk about,” Alcaraz said.
“In the end, he tested positive, but there must be a reason that allowed him to keep playing that we don’t know. So I cannot talk a lot about it. He was declared innocent and so we have Jannik in the tournament, and so there’s not much to talk about and I’m no position to add anything else.”
– With AP inputs
