Martina Navratilova slams WADA appeal in Sinner doping case: “The entire system needs to be blown up”

Martina Navratilova recently commented on WADA's appeal following Jannik Sinner’s doping case. The Italian was found not guilty of "fault or negligence" after Clostebol was detected in his anti-doping tests due to contamination from a spray used by his physiotherapist on himself.

The case has drawn criticism from several figures, with Nick Kyrgios being one of the most vocal. The recent match against Nicolas Jarry, who served a one-year suspension for a doping case himself, reignited discussions on the matter.

When Sinner learned of the positive result, he swiftly filed an appeal, avoiding suspension and keeping the case largely out of the public eye. The Italian was exonerated of fault or negligence after it was determined that the contamination came from a spray his physiotherapist applied on himself, causing microscopic contamination in Sinner's bloodstream during treatment.

Shortly after the ITIA decided not to suspend the Italian, the World Anti-Doping Agency announced an appeal seeking a one- to two-year sanction. The 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova spoke about the case on the Tennis Channel podcast and criticised WADA for insisting on pursuing it.

"The entire system needs to be blown up & started over again… We’re trying to catch cheaters, not people that had their massage cream on their body or took a sleeping pill they’ve been taking for 5 years"

"I'll be very diplomatic here and say that it all stinks. The whole system needs to be blown up and started over again. There is so much scrutiny over WADA right now with what they did with Chinese swimmers… both Sinner and Swiatek, the no. 1s, for sure they were not doping,” the former world No. 1 added. “We're trying to catch cheaters and not people that have their massage creams on their body or took a sleeping pill that they've been taking for five years and now its tainted."

"I mean you're guilty until proven innocent in this and for Sinner, he thought he was done with it and now WADA is appealing? Why? I just don't get it. There has to be a lot of light shone onto this. We just need to get a better system than what we had,” Navratilova concluded.