Djokovic Says Majority of Players See 'Favouritism' in Sinner's Doping Ban

Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic has complained about the manner the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) treated world number one Jannik Sinner's three-month doping ban.

Sinner recently settled the case with WADA, receiving a three-month ban. WADA admitted Sinner's detection of clostebol was accidental, that it did not improve his performance, and the result of the negligence of his entourage.

Djokovic revealed that many players in the locker room are upset about the handling of the case, with most believing that Sinner was given special treatment.

"There’s a majority of the players I’ve spoken to, not just in recent days, but over the past few months, who are unhappy with how this whole process has been managed," Djokovic told The Guardian.

"Most of the players think it's not right. It seems like there's favouritism present, and it seems that if you're a high-level player with the best lawyers, it might affect the result," he continued.

The Sinner controversy was the first of two major scandals in tennis, with a second case arising shortly afterwards. World number two Iga Swiatek was suspended for one month in November after testing positive for trimetazidine, which is medication for angina. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) verified that the positive test was caused by contamination from a drug Swiatek took to cope with jet lag.

In contrast, former world number one Simona Halep was banned for four years by the ITIA in 2022 after a positive test. That was later cut to nine months.

Djokovic noted the "inconsistencies" in the anti-doping system, labeling it "unfair."

"Simona Halep, Tara Moore, and some of the other lesser-known players have been having trouble with their cases for years or got very long bans," Djokovic said. "There are too many inconsistencies between cases."

He also questioned Sinner's three-month ban, saying, "Sinner was suspended for three months because of the errors and the lack of attention of his team, who are traveling on tour. It is something that a lot of players, including me, find strange."

Djokovic finished by calling on tennis officials to correct the deficiencies in the anti-doping system, saying, "It's time for us to seriously rethink the system. It's evident that the structure isn't working for anti-doping. I hope the governing bodies will sit down soon to discover a better approach. The existing system is inconsistent and appears very unjust."