Lausanne, 4 October 2024 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered the Statement of Appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the decision issued by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) Independent Tribunal dated 19 August 2024 (the Challenged Decision) in which the Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner (the Player) was found to have committed two Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for which he bore “No Fault or Negligence” (presence of metabolites of Clostebol, a steroid and Prohibited Substance), and for which no period of ineligibility was imposed on him (Article 10.5 of the ITF’s Tennis Anti-Doping Programme 2024 (TADP)).
The Player, the ITIA, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) (collectively, the Respondents) have been notified of the CAS appeal.
In its appeal to the CAS, WADA seeks the annulment of the Challenged Decision and a new decision ruling that Jannik Sinner has committed two ADRVs pursuant to Articles 2.1 and/or 2.2 TADP, without application of Article 10.5 TADP (“No fault or Negligence”). WADA requests CAS to impose a sanction of a period of ineligibility between one and two years on the Athlete and to confirm the disqualification of all competitive results obtained by Jannik Sinner during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells/USA.
The CAS arbitration proceedings have commenced. In accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration (the CAS Code), the arbitration rules governing CAS procedures, the parties are exchanging
written submissions and the Panel of arbitrators that will decide the matter is being constituted.
Once constituted, the Panel will issue procedural directions for the next phase of the procedure, including
the holding of a hearing. Following the hearing, the Panel will deliberate and issue an Arbitral Award containing its decision and the grounds for it. At this time, it is not possible to indicate a time frame for
the issuance of the decision.
The CAS Panel’s decision will be final and binding, with the exception of the parties’ right to file an
appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal within 30 days on limited grounds.
For further information related to the CAS activity and procedures in general, please contact either Matthieu Reeb, CAS Director General, or Katy Hogg, Communications Officer. Palais de Beaulieu, avenue Bergières 10, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland.