"Odd that they appealed against Jannik Sinner & now changed the rule" - Tennis insider intrigued by WADA's new anti-doping regulation

Formula 2 & Formula 3 Prize Giving Ceremony 2024 - Source: Getty
Formula 2 & Formula 3 Prize Giving Ceremony 2024 - Source: Getty

Noted tennis journalist and tennis insider Jose Morgado reacted on social media to a curious change in the code of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which announced that it will be making some big changes in the coming years.

While the changes are overall a net positive for tennis and the players as they will mitigate cases like those of Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner, the Portuguese insider found the changes a bit odd.

He found them especially odd considering that Sinner's case is currently under appeal even though the Agency is clearly pivoting away from the rules based on which Sinner's case is built.

"Interesting rule change from WADA that will avoid things like what happened with Sinner and Swiatek… Odd that they appealed against Sinner and now changed the rule…," said Morgado on X.

WADA changes rules and what it means for Sinner

 Jannik Sinner during the Davis Cup Finals  - Source: Getty
Jannik Sinner during the Davis Cup Finals - Source: Getty

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be making some changes to its procedure of getting to the bottom of any doping cases in the future. These announced changes signal a significant shift from the way cases have been tackled so far by the Agency.

The changes will come into effect from January 1st, 2027, so not immediately, but they are significant enough to be noted. The first change is the changing of the concept of 'contaminated product' to 'contaminated source' with the definition of the latter being very different from the contaminated product one.

As per Ubitennis, the rules define this contaminated source as, “An unforeseeable source of a Prohibited Substance, such as: ingestion of a medicine containing the Prohibited Substance which is not specified on the label or whose presence cannot be identified by a reasonable Internet search; consumption of food or drink, such as contaminated meat or water, which contains the Prohibited Substance without a warning or other communication notifying of the possible presence of the Prohibited Substance; exposure to a Prohibited Substance which has been used or possessed by a third person, either through direct contact by the Athlete with the third person or through contact with objects touched or handled by the third person; or through environmental contamination.”

Had this been in place at the time Sinner's situation happened, things would have gone quite differently for the Italian; basically, nothing would have happened. Even so, Sinner's appeal will move forward as this change will only come into effect in 2027, later than the resolution of Sinner's appeal.

Another change set to be introduced in 2027 involves the potential establishment of minimum concentration levels below which the presence of a non-threshold substance would not constitute a positive test result ( also referred to as an “Adverse Analytical Finding”). As per WADA a "Non-Threshold Substance” refers to a substance for which no acceptable level of presence is currently defined.

Both of these changes are net positives for the sport because they will make the process simpler and more transparent.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar
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