WADA will not appeal Iga Sfjontek's suspension

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced that it will not appeal the one-month suspension of Iga Sfjontek, imposed for a positive test for a banned substance conducted in mid-August.

WADA's scientific experts believe that the way the Polish tennis player stated that the contamination occurred is "plausible" and that "there would be no scientific reason to challenge it before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."

The Polish player tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication, in a sample taken out of competition in August, when she was number one on the WTA rankings.

The affair only came to light three months later, when Iga accepted a one-month suspension. She cited personal reasons for her absence from three tournaments in Asia.

Sfjontek stated that the test result was coincidental and was caused by contamination of an over-the-counter substance, melatonin, which is used to combat sleep problems.

"WADA has conducted a complete review of the file relating to the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which it received on 29 November. WADA's scientific experts have confirmed that the specific scenario of contaminated melatonin, as presented by the player, which was accepted by ITIA, is credible and that there are no scientific reasons to challenge it before CAS," WADA said in a statement.

In a similar case, Janik Siner tested positive and was briefly suspended twice in March for traces of the steroid clostebol.

ITIA then acquitted him, but WADA filed an appeal and this will be examined by CAS on April 16th and 17th.