ITIA chief breaks silence on Swiatek-Sinner doping scandals, blames Halep for ban: ‘His level of fault was higher’ | Tennis news

The tennis fraternity has been hit by two high-profile doping controversies in 2024. First it involved world number one player Jannik Sinner, whose US Open title run was overshadowed by a doping scandal . It was revealed he had tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March, but his defense was accepted by an independent tribunal that this was due to unintentional contamination. WADA appealed the decision to the CAS, and the verdict is expected next year.

Next up is Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek, who also lost her world number 1. 1 position for Aryna Sabalenka this year. Swiatek served a month-long doping ban that ended this month. She received the ban after testing positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition sample in August. His defense was accepted by the ITIA that his result was positive due to contamination with melatonin, a regulated over-the-counter medicine manufactured and sold in Poland.

Sinner and Swiatek received support from former and current players and fans. But the duo also received backlash from some, including the former world number one. 1 Simona Halep. Halep was initially banned for four years in September 2023, a year after she tested positive for roxadustat and had irregularities in her blood passport. Subsequently, the CAS reduced his suspension to nine months. Halep believes there are huge differences in the way doping cases have been handled in tennis in recent years.

ITIA chief Karen Moorhouse has broken her silence on recent doping controversies and responded to claims that Sinner and Swiatek received preferential treatment. Speaking to Tennis365, she said: “It’s the same rules and the same processes for every player.”

“All cases are different and each case is based on individual facts. The cases can also be quite complex, so it is not correct to look at two titles and make comparisons between two cases, as the detail is always the key element.

“Let’s take Swiatek and Halep. The CAS court concluded that its supplement (Halep’s) was contaminated. So just in terms of that conclusion, they talked about nine months (suspension).

“It was the court that decided the objective fault she had committed and the subjective fault she should have had. So, what should she have done about the product that turned out to be contaminated?

“As far as Swiatek is concerned, the contaminated product was a medicine. It was therefore not unreasonable for a player to assume that a regulated drug would contain what is stated on its ingredients. Therefore, the level of fault it could accept was the lowest, because there was little more it could reasonably have done to mitigate the risk of contamination of this product. Halep’s contamination was not medicine. It was a collagen supplement and it was found to have a higher level of fault.

“The key point here is that it is rare to find two identical cases, they will all rely on particular facts,” she added.

The banned substance Swiatek allegedly consumed was trimetazidine. She missed three tournaments due to her doping ban.