By: Osabuohien Imuetinyanosa
The Laureus Academy revoked tennis number one Jannik Sinner’s nomination for its annual World Sportsman of the Year Award on Thursday, citing his three-month doping ban.
Sinner, who accepted the ban earlier this month, had tested positive for anabolic agent clostebol which the 23-year-old said had entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy. The ban will end on May 4.
“We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and – whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved – feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible,” Laureus Academy Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick said in a letter addressed to nomination panel members.
“Jannik and his team have been informed.”
The Laureus World Sports Awards have been presented since 2000, with nominees selected by the global media, recognising individual and team achievement in sport. The nominees for this year’s awards will be announced on March 3 in Madrid.
Sinner, who retained his Australian Open title last month, failed two drug tests in March 2024 but was allowed to keep competing while he appealed his case.
The positive tests came to light days before the U.S. Open, when an independent tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing, plunging the year’s final major into controversy.
A number of players and fans criticised officials for allowing Sinner to play on despite the positive tests and believed that the Italian had been given
preferential treatment because of his top ranking status.
In September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to sports highest court (CAS) against an independent tribunal’s ruling, which had cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing because it found he bore “no fault or negligence” for the failed tests.
WADA had said that finding was incorrect under the applicable rules, and that Sinner should serve a ban “of between one and two years”.
However, two weeks ago Sinner accepted an immediate three-month doping ban after WADA said it had reached a settlement on his period of ineligibility. WADA also withdrew its appeal to CAS following the settlement.
Sinner, who will return to competition before the next Grand Slam event takes place at the French Open, is the second high-ranked player to accept a doping ban in recent months after women’s world number two Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban in November. (Reuters).
Jannik Sinner has been dropped from an exhibition event in Las Vegas next month while the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player is serving a three-month ban connected to a pair of failed doping tests.
Instead of Sinner, Casper Ruud is now slated to join Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul on March 2 as part of the MGM Rewards Slam at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The switch was announced Thursday in a news release that said Sinner “will not play following his recent suspension.”
Last weekend, Sinner accepted the punishment as part of a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA had appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an accidental contamination; he tested positive twice in March 2024 for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid, then explained later that a cream one of his since-fired staff members purchased — and gave to another member of the entourage, who massaged Sinner — contained the banned substance clostebol.
Under his settlement, Sinner — a 23-year-old from Italy — will be sidelined until early May and can return to competition at the Rome Masters in his home country. The timing of the ban, which raised eyebrows among some other players, means he won’t miss a Grand Slam tournament; the next one is the French Open, which starts on May 25. (AP).
Sinner one of the most talented sportsman, will suffer three month ban for doping. This in return will cause the tennis world miss the formidable performance of the
