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MELBOURNE, Australia — The World Anti-Doping Agency will not appeal Iga Suatec’s one-month suspension for failing a drug test because his explanation is “substantial,” WADA announced.
WADA released its decision after Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player, sealed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Eva Lys to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
“Well, for sure, I’m just satisfied that I can get closure, kind of,” Suatek said, “and I can just go ahead and finish this whole process, because I just want to play tennis and be in tournaments.” I want to focus.”
Unlike the Swiatek case, WADA appealed the exemption of current men’s No. 1 Janic Siner, and a hearing is scheduled for April at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ciner was not suspended because the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined he was not negligent for two positive tests for anabolic steroids in March.
The resolution of Swatek’s case was released by the ITIA in late November. He had already been temporarily sidelined, missed three tournaments in October and ended his ban in the sport’s offseason.
“WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s explanation of contamination was well substantiated, that the ITIA decision was consistent with the World Anti-Doping Code, and that there was no reasonable basis for an appeal to CAS.” A statement from WADA said.
Swetek received a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart drug known as TMZ.
Swiatek failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, and the ITIA accepted his explanation that the result was unintentional, and that the medication he was taking for jet lag and sleep problems was caused by melatonin contamination.
The ITIA said it determined its level of fault “at the lowest end of the range for no substantial error or negligence.”
This “scenario,” WADA said, “is provable and there will be no scientific basis to challenge it.”
On the eve of the Australian Open, Swatek described the initial period he was sidelined, which he made at the time for personal reasons, as “pretty chaotic” and said, “Definitely, it wasn’t easy; it was probably the worst time of my life.”
“It got pretty awkward. Like, we chose for the first tournament to say ‘personal reasons’ because we honestly thought the suspension would be lifted soon,” said Melbourne’s Swatek. The levels were so low that it must be contaminated.”
