WADA will modify the anti-doping rules, making them more flexible, thus trying to avoid the rain of controversy (both for and against) that fell after the positive tests on TMZ and Clostebol of Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.
There will be more flexibility when cases of involuntary doping or infinitesimal quantities of prohibited substances that are traced by tests occur. Along these lines, WADA has made official some changes to the anti-doping code, which however can only come into force from 1 January 2027.
This means that nothing will change regarding a possible disqualification sentence that will be commensurate with Sinner.
Among the new features that emerged is the change in the definition of contaminated source. The term introduced, as announced by WADA, is broader and includes sources of contamination such as food or drink, environmental contamination or exposure through contact with a third person or an object touched by a third person.
Another change would concern the green light to limits on the minimum quantities of prohibited substances, within which proceedings against the athlete would not be triggered. In the last two cases recorded, the champions of the Italian number one in the world detected 86 and 76 picograms per milliliter respectively. Even less than the quantity of the tests carried out by the player from Warsaw.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2024© Stream screenshot
As mentioned, there will be no changes to the proceedings currently underway against the young Italian. The regulations to be applied will be the current ones: certainly, it would be controversial if the Italian were suspended for an incident that in two years will no longer be considered a potential irregularity.
“Today there is a problem of contamination. This does not mean that there are more cases of this kind than in the past, the fact is that laboratories are more efficient in detecting even infinitesimal quantities of substances. The quantities are so small that you can contaminate yourself by doing harmless things. The truth is that we hear a lot of stories and I understand the public opinion that can come to think that we take everything,” said WADA Director General Olivier Niggli some days ago, opening up to a review of the code.
Tennis World USA