Ion Tiriac, the 83-year-old tennis legend and Hall of Famer from Romania, has voiced his opinion on the situation surrounding Jannik Sinner. The Italian tennis player faced a three-month suspension due to a positive doping test.
Tiriac stated, “The day WADA first made exceptions for athletes using banned substances, fraud became legal. The system has collapsed. There are thousands of athletes, and possibly hundreds in tennis, with up to 14-15 such exemptions – and they are still considered clean. This is a deception of sports, colleagues, and the public. The game is rigged, and it’s rigged at the highest level.” His comments were reported by TennisUpTodate, citing L’Équipe.
Sinner’s test revealed the presence of clostebol, an anabolic steroid prohibited in sports, during the Indian Wells Masters on March 10, 2024. This information was made public in August. While Sinner was later cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with a hearing initially scheduled for April 2025. However, on February 15, WADA announced a settlement with Sinner, resulting in a three-month ban (from February 9 to May 4), and withdrew their appeal.
