LONDON, Feb 28 (AP): The nomination of Jannik Sinner for the Laureus sportsman of the year award was withdrawn Thursday because of the top-ranked tennis player's three-month ban for his two positive doping tests nearly a year ago.
Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Sean Fitzpatrick said in a statement that the Italian player's ban resulting from a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency prompted the decision.
"Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner's nomination for this year's Laureus world sportsman of the year award is to be withdrawn," Fitzpatrick said.
"We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and - whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved - feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. Jannik and his team have been informed."
Sinner and WADA announced the settlement on February 15.
WADA, which had sought to ban the three-time Grand Slam champion from the sport for at least one year, had challenged a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what the ITIA judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last March.
Sinner's explanation - that trace amounts of Clostebol in his doping sample was due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger - had been accepted.
The timing means the 23-year-old Italian won't miss any Grand Slam tournaments. The French Open, the season's next major, starts May 25.
Last year, Novak Djokovic won the Laureus sportsman of the year award for 2023 and Spanish soccer star Aitana Bonmatí was picked as the best sportswoman.
Nominees for the upcoming awards will be announced in Madrid on Monday.
Sinner had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel after testing positive for the banned substance clostebol in March.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) investigation found that Sinner had been inadvertently contaminated with the anabolic steroid by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.
Wada, having launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), initially sought a ban of up to two years for the three-time Grand Slam champion.
However, Wada reached a settlement after accepting Sinner was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance and "did not intend to cheat".
The nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards, selected by a panel of journalists and broadcasters, will be announced on March 03.
