By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Monday, January 20, 2025
Photo credit: Graham Denholm/Getty
Iga Swiatek won’t face any further punishment after testing positive for the banned substance TMZ.
WADA announced today it will not file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Swiatek’s case.
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Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek served a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August.
WADA said it has “conducted a full review” of the case and is not appealing the decision because it accepts Swiatek’s claim of contamination through melatonin
“On 28 November, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the independent body that delivers anti-doping programs on behalf of the International Tennis Federation, announced that Ms. Świątek had accepted a one-month period of ineligibility after the ITIA determined that her positive test for TMZ was caused by a contaminated melatonin product that is regulated as a medication in Poland and was sourced from a reputable pharmacy in that country,” WADA said in a statement. “WADA has conducted a full review of the case file related to the ITIA decision, which it received on 29 November.
“WADA’s scientific experts have confirmed that the specific .contaminated melatonin scenario, as presented by the athlete and accepted by the ITIA, is plausible and that there would be no scientific grounds to challenge it at CAS. Further, WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s contamination explanation was well evidenced, that the ITIA decision was compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code, and that there was no reasonable basis to appeal it to the CAS.”
The second-seeded Swiatek, who will face American Emma Navarro in the Australian open quarterfinals, said she’s satisfied to have closure.
“I’m just satisfied that I got a closure, and I kind of want to focus on the tournament already, so it’s good that the process is over,” Swiatek said.
