Djokovic calls for overhaul of ‘unfair’ anti-doping system

DOHA:  Novak Djokovic on Monday urged tennis authorities to overhaul the sport's anti-doping system, pointing to "inconsistencies" in cases involving top stars Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek and those of lower-ranked players.

World No. 1 Sinner agreed to a three-month ban on Saturday, admitting "partial responsiblity" for mistakes by his team which led to him twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.

Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his initial exoneration by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), announced in August.

In a surprising move, WADA withdrew its appeal and came to an agreement with Sinner to accept a three-month ban.

In another high-profile case last year, five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine.

"There's a majority of the players that I've talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled," said Djokovic.

"A majority of the players don't feel that it's fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favoritism happening. It seems like, it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers."

In contrast, the recently retired Simona Halep, a former world No. 1, was handed a four-year ban by the ITIA in 2022 after testing positive for the blood-boosting drug roxadustat.

She argued it was the result of a tainted supplement and successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reduced her