The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s general counsel Ross
Wenzel has strongly comes out in defence of the agreement with the world number
one
Jannik Sinner. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently
playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, has been suspended for three
months after an agreement reached between him and
WADA about two failed
doping
tests back in March last year.
Ever since the agreement was officially announced by both
the players and the agency, it has come under severe criticism, not only from
fans but from some current players on the circuit as well. Most recently, Serbia’s
legendary tennis star
Novak Djokovic has also lambasted the agreement while talking
to the media in Doha and claimed that there is a consensus in the locker room that
this agreement is a case of favouritism.
However, WADA’s general counsel, Wenzel, has recently spoken to BBC, where he backs the agreement between the two parties. He also stated that
Sinner’s case was a ‘million miles away’ from doping, which included ‘micro-dosing’
as well.
"This was a case that was a million miles away from
doping," he said while talking to the British media outlet. "The
scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of
intentional doping, including micro-dosing. Wada has received messages from
those that consider that the sanction was too high and, in some respects, if
you have some saying this is unfair on the athlete, and others saying it's not
enough, maybe it's an indication that although it's not going to be popular
with everyone, maybe it's an indication that it was in the right place. When we
look at these cases we try to look at them technically, operationally and we
don't do it with fear of what the public and the politicians or anyone is going
to say."