Champion of the 1994 Australian Open and 1993 Roland Garros in mixed doubles Andrei Olkhovsky told that he sees it as a problem that there are no fixed rules for doping suspensions in tennis.
On Thursday, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared that world no. Iga Swiętek passed a positive doping test for the banned substance trimetazidine. The result was a finding of no substantial fault or negligence and a one-month suspension.
— The trial lasted a long time, she was disqualified in September, but she played. The problem is that there are no clear criteria: some are suspended, others not. The same Sinner plays, Schwiatek plays and Valieva, Halep, Sharapova receive punishments. By what criteria is this determined? It is examined by a commission which can decide, it seems to me, absolutely in any direction. How it got there is decided by a commission, which can decide in any direction.
There are no fixed rules regarding doping in tennis, and that is a mistake. There must be a general code. The commission is closed, all the arguments for and against are not posted anywhere. So it is very difficult to judge whether an athlete actually doped or not,” Olkhovsky told .
The ITIA admitted that the positive test was due to contamination of an over-the-counter medicine (melatonin) produced and sold in Poland that the 23-year-old tennis player was taking to treat jet lag and sleep problems, and that the contamination was therefore not intentional.
Szwiatek was suspended from September 12, 2024, after which she “successfully appealed and missed three tournaments.” In addition, the 23-year-old athlete was also deprived of prize money for the Cincinnati Open tournament, which took place in the United States. On November 27, Schwiatek publicly admitted to violating anti-doping rules and accepted the sanction. Time served under a temporary suspension will count toward the period of ineligibility. She will serve the remaining 8 days of disqualification during the offseason until December 4.
Swiatek is the winner of five Grand Slam singles tournaments, winner of 22 WTA singles tournaments and a bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympics. The Polish tennis player lost the top spot in the rankings as he missed tournaments due to of a temporary suspension. Today the first racket in the world is Belarusian Arina Sabalenka.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
