The case of Italian tennis player Janiko Siner was "a million miles away from doping," a senior World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) official, Ross Wenzel, said today.
The world's number one tennis player was suspended for three months on Saturday, after reaching a settlement with the relevant anti-doping authorities.
Siner was previously acquitted despite failing tests twice last year, when he tested positive for clostebol, but WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the Tennis Integrity Unit's initial decision not to suspend Siner.
WADA had sought a suspension of up to two years, but reached a settlement on the punishment after accepting that the Italian tennis player was unintentionally contaminated with a banned substance and did not intend to cheat.
Siner's case has divided the tennis world, with some questioning the timing and length of the suspension, how the Italian managed to reach a settlement and the inconsistencies between recent doping cases.
"This was a case that is a million miles away from doping. The scientific feedback we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing," WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel told the BBC.
Wenzel rejected claims of special treatment and said the terms of the suspension, which some argue will have little impact on Siner, were appropriate for the case and did not take the tennis calendar into account.
Siner's suspension took effect on February 9th and will last until May 4th, so he will be able to play at Roland Garros, which begins on May 25th.
He has not played since defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the Australian Open final on January 26.
"WADA has received messages from those who believe the punishment is too high and in some respects some say it is unfair to the athlete and others say it is not enough. Perhaps this is an indication that, although it will not be popular with everyone, perhaps it is an indication that it is the right punishment," Vecel said.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic questioned the fairness of the process and said that there was favoritism towards top tennis players, while Swiss Stan Wawrinka wrote on the social network X: "I no longer believe in clean sport."
"When we look at these cases, we try to look at them technically, operationally, and we don't do it with fear of what the public, politicians or anyone will say," Wetzel said.
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