"This was a case million miles away from doping": WADA official comes out in defence of Jannik Sinner agreement after backlash from active players including Novak Djokovic

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.

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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.

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"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."

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