A former ATP world No. 1 has stunningly claimed that players like Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek should receive lifetime bans for testing positive for banned substances under any circumstances.
2024 was a terrific year for tennis, filled with stunning action and great stories. However, the sport has also been rocked by Sinner and Swiatek, who have been No. 1 this season on the ATP and WTA Tours, testing positive for prohibited substances.
Sinner's positive tests for clostebol occurred at March's Indian Wells. A private five-month investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined he bore no fault or negligence for how the substance entered his system.
The Italian's case was kept private throughout the investigation because he swiftly found where the contamination took place. But he admitted discovering the positive test was still a moment of complete darkness.
Sinner hoped to move on after initially being cleared. The World Anti-Doping Agency ended that possibility by appealing the ITIA's verdict. News about the date of the appeal hearing was recently released.
It was publicly revealed that Swiatek tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on November 28th. It came from an out-of-competition sample the four-time French Open champion provided on August 12th.
After being provisionally suspended on September 12th, Swiatek successfully appealed it when testing confirmed her explanation that a non-prescription medicine had been contaminated without her knowledge. The provisional suspension was lifted on October 4th.
Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension and the loss of her prize money from the Cincinnati Open. She served most of that month while provisionally suspended, meaning the 23-year-old can return freely in 2025.
Some players were outraged by Sinner and Swiatek's doping cases. Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov are among those who are unhappy with the positive results and how the cases were handled. Eugenie Bouchard also agreed with Kyrgios' blunt verdict.
However, two-time Grand Slam champion and former ATP No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov went much further with his views in a post on X (Twitter). He wants Sinner, Swiatek, and all players who test positive to be banned for life.
"Sometimes i wonder…..”why the hell up i was not using steroids thru all of my carrier [sic], so i could play instead of 170 matches a year to maybe 300”? This is really [a] shame what’s happening to tennis now."
"It should be LIFE ban for anybody who gets caught using ban substances! NO excuses and ZERO tolerance no matter who your [sic] are!!!!"
Kafelnikov elaborated by arguing that young and upcoming players will see the stories about Swiatek and Sinner and think it is okay to use steroids, which might create additional problems for the sport.
"And the sad part to all of this is that young and upcoming players (12-16 years old) look at they idols and think maybe it’s normal to use steroids in the future and get away with this! Current players setting bad examples for young generations."
A lifetime ban seems excessive, considering investigations in both cases proved neither player intended to take a banned substance, but Kafelnikov is entitled to his opinion.
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