Breather for Swiatek: WADA Will Not Challenge One-Month Ban

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will not contest the one-month ban imposed on Polish tennis player and World No. 2, Iga Swiatek.

Last year, Swiatek was charged with the commission of anti-doping rule violations under provisions of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ). The player was initially handed a two-year provisional suspension. Following the player’s appeal, the provisional suspension was lifted by the independent tribunal on October 4, 2024.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) subsequently determined that the positive test resulted from a contaminated product, which was a regulated non-prescription medication in Poland. This medicine was consumed by the player to manage jet lag and assist in regulating sleep patterns. Following this, the ITIA suggested a period of one month of ineligibility, which Swiatek accepted. The time served under provisional suspension was credited towards the ineligibility period, and the player was required to complete the remaining days of the ineligibility period from the date of the ITIA’s decision (i.e., 27 November 2024) to 4 December 2024.

After reviewing the case, WADA has confirmed that it will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In another significant tennis doping controversy involving World No.1 Jannik Sinner, the hearing for WADA’s appeal has been scheduled for April 16 and 17. Back in August 2024, the Independent Tribunal of the ITIA concluded that Sinner bore no fault or negligence with respect to the presence of the prohibited substance Clostebol in dope samples collected in March 2024. It was determined that Sinner did not know or suspect that a prohibited substance could’ve been inadvertently transferred to him during massage therapy; this therapy was administered by a physiotherapist who had used a spray containing Clostebol to treat a cut on his finger.