Sinner accepts 3-mt ban in WADA deal over clostebol

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 15 - Jannik Sinner has accepted a three-month World Anti-Doping Agency ban over the clostebol case, the WADA said Saturday.
    The world tennis number one, 23, had been cleared by a lower court after it found that he had inadvertently been tainted with the banned steroid by a trainer's massage at the Indian Wells tournament last March, but WADA reopened the case and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) where it had been seeking a ban of up to two years.
    WADA said "that it has reached an agreement for the resolution of the case of the Italian tennis player, who accepted a three-month period of ineligibility for a violation of the doping rule that led to a positive test for clostebol, a banned substance, in March 2024".
    The ban appears to mean that Sinner will be able to pursue his dream to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to achieve a yearly grand slam by becoming re-eligible before the French Open which starts at Roland Garros on May 19, when the ban will have been served.
    South Tyrolean Sinner, who retained his Australian Open title last month and also won last year's US Open, said: "This case has been hanging over me for almost a year now and the process still had a long time to go with a decision that perhaps would only come at the end of the year.
    "I have always accepted to be responsible for my team and I believe that WADA's strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On this basis I accepted WADA's offer to resolve this case on the basis of a three-month sanction".
    Italian Tennis Federation President Angelo Binaghi said the Italian tennis world and the whole of Italy would give him "the welcome he deserves" when he returns for the Italian Open from May 7-13.
    "It is the first time that a shameful injustice makes us happy because the first thought is for the lad who sees a nightmare come to an end", he said.
    "This agreement between the two parties certifies Jannik's innocence, his absolute non-guilt, and finally allows him to calm down and plan his future with a great return to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome where all of Italy will welcome him as he deserves". (ANSA).