Tennis world has been shaken by multiple doping cases this year. Yesterday's case, when Australian Max Purcell turned himself in and voluntarily accepted his suspension, is the rarest of examples: usually, players fight to defend their innocence and accept their contamination was involuntary.
Among fans, journalists and even some tennis players, a lot of voices have risen about an apparent favourable treatment to well known players Jannik Sinner (men's nº1) and Iga Świątek (women's nº2): Sinner was absolved and Świątek was only given a one month suspension.
In an interview with Tennis365, International Tennis Integrity Agency CEO Karen Moorhouse has completely denied those claims: "It's the same rules and the same processes for every player".
She explains that cases can be quite complex, and puts the case of Simona Halep as an example. On Halep's case, she was banned for four years in September 2023, a sentence later reduced to just over a year.
The tribunal found that Halep's supplement was contaminated. Swiatek also had accidental contamination, but not from a supplement, but a medication to sleep better. "Therefore, the level of fault she could accept was at the lowest level as there was very little more she could have done reasonably to mitigate the risk of that product being contaminated.
"Halep's contamination was not a medication. It was a collagen supplement and her level of fault was found to be higher".
Moorhouse also explained other heavily argued contrasts between cases, like how suspension times were set. "The key point here is it's rare to find two cases that are the same they will all turn on their particular facts".