Tennis professionals who are suspected of cheating should receive more support in the future.
As the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Wednesday, a range of new measures would be taken to help those affected defend themselves and deal with the situation. The program will come into force immediately and will initially be tested until 2026.
“Anyone involved in an anti-doping or anti-corruption investigation deserves the opportunity to defend or explain themselves”ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse justified the step: “People get into these situations for many reasons, and regardless of what those reasons are or the outcome of the case, they deserve to have someone they can talk to.”
Sources of contamination Have it tested by WADA laboratory
Among other things, players with an abnormal analysis result in a doping test can now apply for financial support to have products that they consider to be a possible source of contamination tested in a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). There is also free legal advice. Meanwhile, people involved in a corruption case can receive mental health support from an organization.
The ITIA came under criticism at the beginning of the year over Jannik Sinner’s doping case. The Italian top player tested positive for Clostebol twice in March 2024 – the responsible ITIA accepted Sinner’s argument that the steroid had accidentally entered his body during treatment by his physiotherapist. Since the organization had called for significantly harsher punishments in similar cases involving less prominent names, allegations of unequal treatment arose.
ITIA criticized because of Sinner case
In the Sinner case, WADA took action against the ITIA’s decision and initially demanded a ban of one to two years, before a surprising settlement was reached and Sinner only had to be suspended for three months. The ITIA does not see it as a problem that Sinner is re-employing his fitness trainer, from whom he had temporarily separated as well as his physiotherapist. Moorhouse confirmed this to the AFP news agency. “In this particular case, we have found that no person has broken the rules. In our view, there are therefore no restrictions on their employment in the sport.”she said.