World number one Jannik Sinner has accepted an immediate three-month ban from tennis after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency over his two positive drugs test last year.
The 23-year-old Italian, who last month won the Australian Open, is suspended from 9 February until 4 May.
He will be eligible to play in the year’s next Grand Slam event, the French Open, which starts on 19 May.
Wada had launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) over the 2024 decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) not to suspend Sinner.
Wada wanted a ban of up to two years but on Saturday said it accepts his explanation that he was inadvertently contaminated with the banned substance clostebol by his physiotherapist, and the case will now not take place.
The body explained it accepts the three-time Grand Slam champion “did not intend to cheat”, that the drug “did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit” and this happened “without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage”.
It added: “However, under the code and by virtue of Cas precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”
In a statement released by his lawyers, Sinner said: “This case had been hanging over me for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year.
“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise Wada’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted Wada’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
Tennis has seen some high-profile doping cases over the past six months, with leading female player Iga Swiatek accepting a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for a banned substance when she was world number one.
Sinner had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel after testing positive for clostebol in March 2024.
It had accepted that he had been inadvertently contaminated by his physiotherapist, who was treating a cut on his hand with an over-the-counter spray, which was later found to contain the banned substance.
The ITIA said in August that the panel found Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” for testing positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol – a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass.
But Wada lodged an appeal with Cas last September, stating at the time that the finding of “no fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules.
It sought a ban of between one and two years, with a hearing scheduled for 16-17 April.
But Sinner has now accepted the three-month ban and the next tournament he can play in is the Italian Open, which begins on 7 May.
He will miss prestigious hard-court tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in the US, plus many of the clay tournaments that build up to the French Open.
Wada, which has officially withdrawn its Cas appeal, says Sinner can return to “official training activity” from 13 April.
The ITIA says Wada’s outcome supports its initial findings.
Will he lose his number one ranking?
Sinner currently has 11,830 points in the ATP rankings, a lead of more than 3,000 over Germany’s world number two Alexander Zverev (8,135), with Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz third (7,510).
The Italian’s ban means he will not be able to defend points gained at tournaments last year and will lose ranking points.
For example, he will miss out on defending his title at the Miami Open which is held from 19-30 March and is worth 1,000 points.
Indian Wells, the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open are the other 1,000-point tournaments he will miss. The rest of the tournaments are worth either 250 or 500 points.
Losing his top ranking would also rely on his rivals wining multiple tournaments.
What have other players and pundits said?
Former British number one Tim Henman says the ban is “too convenient” and believes it will leave tennis fans with a “pretty sour taste”, while Australia’s former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios called it a “sad day for tennis”.
“Obviously having just won the Australian Open, to miss three months of the Tour and therefore to be eligible to play at Roland Garros, the timing couldn’t have been any better for Sinner, but I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport,” Henman told Sky Sports.
“When you’re dealing with drugs in sport it very much has to be black and white, it’s binary, it’s positive or negative, you’re banned or you’re not banned.
“When you start reading words like settlement or agreement, it feels like there’s been a negotiation and I don’t think that will sit well with the player cohort and the fans of the sport.”
In a post on X, Kyrgios wrote: “So Wada come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban. Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a three month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”
Sinner’s lawyer Jamie Singer said on Saturday: “Wada has confirmed the facts determined by the Independent Tribunal. It is clear that Jannik had no intent, no knowledge, and gained no competitive advantage. Regrettably, errors made by members of his team led to this situation.”
Accusations that Sinner has received preferential treatment, because of his status, were disputed by the ITIA.
Karen Moorhouse, chief executive of the ITIA, said: “The way we manage cases does not change, irrespective of the profile of the player involved.”
World number four Novak Djokovic said in October that Sinner’s doping case was “not helping tennis at all”, while Australia’s Kyrgios previously said: “Two world number ones both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look.”
British player Tara Moore, who was provisionally banned for two years while challenging a doping charge of which she was eventually cleared, suggested top players were “treated differently”.
But two-time major finalist Casper Ruud concluded there was “no discrimination” in favour of Sinner if “you have read the documents”.
Will Sinner lose any titles or prize money?
No, because Wada was not seeking a disqualification of his results.
But as per the ITIA panel’s initial ruling, Sinner’s results, 400 ranking points and $325,000 prize money from the ATP Masters 1,000 event at Indian Wells where the player tested positive on the way to the semi-finals, are disqualified.
What has Sinner said about the case?
Sinner has always maintained he had done nothing wrong but said it created a “difficult” build-up to his US Open win last September.
After the win in Melbourne, Sinner said he has always maintained that he has a “clear mind”.
But he has accepted responsibility for the actions of his team and in the lawyers’ statement on Saturday, it said he was “acknowledging his partial responsibility for the errors made by his team”.
The ITIA’s investigation found that Sinner – who said in September he was “surprised” and “disappointed” that Wada had appealed – had been inadvertently contaminated with the anabolic steroid by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.
Naldi was treating a cut on his hand using an over-the-counter spray, which had been provided by Sinner’s fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara.
Three days after the doping case emerged last August, Sinner parted ways with Naldi and Ferrara.
Sinner was allowed to continue playing after testing positive because his legal team successfully appealed against the provisional suspensions that were automatically imposed after each of his failed tests.
After his first positive test, the ban was lifted after one day, and after the second test it was lifted after three days. Those four days count towards the three-month ban he has now accepted.
What is clostebol?
Clostebol can be used to build muscle mass and enhance performance, and has been banned by Wada since 2004.
It is an active ingredient in a dermatological cream or spray called Trofodermin, which is used to treat skin abrasions, cuts and wounds and is readily available over the counter in Italy. But, according to Italian law, Trofodermin packaging must have a visible symbol indicating the presence of a Wada-banned substance.
The ITIA described the levels found in Sinner’s sample as “low”. His lawyers said it amounted to “less than a billionth of a gram”.