Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek doping cases ‘poorly managed’, says former world No 7
Richard Gasquet has slammed the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for the way they have handled the Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek positive doping cases.
Sinner failed two drug tests in March as he tested positive for clostebol, but he was allowed to continue playing while the ITIA completed its investigation.
The public was also not informed that Italian failed the tests as it only came to light in August when Sinner was cleared as the ITIA found that there was “no fault or negligence” on the player’s part.
But the saga is not over as the World Anti-Doping Agency has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and they want a ban of between one and two years.
The dust around that case had barely settled and five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidin and was handed a one-month ban as the former world No 1 was also deemed to be of “no significant fault or negligence”.
Like the Sinner case, the issue only came to light once the ITIA released its full report.
Gasquet – a three-time major semi-finalists – doesn’t think tennis has a doping problem, but he admits there is confusion over how the cases are being handled.
“I think that all sports are quite difficult. All sports can at some point have doping. Tennis can be part of it. Obviously, there was cycling. Now, there is tennis… Anything is possible,” he told La Dépêche.
The Frenchman added: “What worries me the most is that we don’t really understand how it works. You learn about it afterwards! Normally, there is a trial, then you have a deliberation, you have a sentence that falls. Here, we learn everything at the same time and that is not normal, it doesn’t mean anything. It is not up to standard.”
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The Sinner case, in particular, left Gasquet confused as he ripped into the ITIA for not being professional.
“I think the case has been poorly managed. All of a sudden you hear, ‘he’s been tried’. In the meantime, nothing has happened, we’ve heard nothing. It’s not normal, it’s not professional. After that, I don’t know anything about the case itself, I haven’t really looked into it,” he said.
“In any case, that it was badly managed, badly fought and badly done, that’s a certainty. Sports justice is full of amateurs. They really are. There’s a cacophony. You hear about it and nobody knows anything. That doesn’t sound professional at all. Everyone says it. It’s a bit grotesque.”
