What does it cost to prove your innocence in professional tennis? For Iga Swiatek the answer is tens of thousands of dollars, sleepless nights, and a one-month ban that shook her career. The 23-year-old tested positive for a prohibited substance (TMZ) in August. Consequently, she was handed a one-month ban and a fine. But that was not the only cost she bore.
The Polish tennis player appeared on the TV Program Fakty po Faktach on December 7 to talk about her case, where she revealed how much she spent to clear her name. The former World No.1 said “I spent about $70,000 on a lawyer, €15,000 on expert opinions and tests. On top of that, there was also the loss of the financial prize for Cincinnati, but – to be honest – it didn’t matter to me. The most important thing was to prove my innocence.”
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The case has got everyone talking. In the most recent episode of Serving Aces, released today, Alexandra Stevenson and Hugues Laverdiere discussed the case and Swiatek’s subsequent one-month ban. They further debated as to why the doping organizations should form better rules so that the players and the public aren’t left confused.
On Iga Swiatek’s financial revelation, Stevenson said, “She’s number 1 in the world. Obviously, she can afford $ 70,000, but what about somebody else that isn’t one in the world? How are they going to afford that? That’s way too expensive. She said and obviously I’m gonna pay it because I’m innocent. So he is going to pay it and she is gonna do it. How much did Sinner pay?
“I am sure that Sinner paid way more $70,000. How much did Sharapova pay? Simona Halep has come out and said ‘this is so unfair’. Look how long her ban was. But then WADA came out and said Swaitek’s ban and Swiatek’s did is opposite of what Halep did. It’s confusing to the players, the whole Tour, the world, the fans,” she concluded.
Case in point, Nicolas Jarry and Barbora Strýcová. Jarry, an ATP player who is ranked 89th, failed the doping test at the David Cup finals in 2020. He was served an 11-month ban even though the International Tennis Federation (ITF ) ruled that he “bore no significant fault or negligence for his violation.” Similar to Swiatek, he had also ingested a contaminated pill which led to him testing positive. Barbora Strycova faced a similar situation as well, where she was handed a 6-month ban for doping via contamination.
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These doping controversies in the last few years have created a sense of uneasiness among the players. The former US Open champion Emma Raducanu recently revealed how apprehensive she has been about taking anything.
Emma Raducanu Reacts to Iga Swiatek’s Doping Violation
Iga Swiatek surprised the tennis world when she tested positive for a prohibited substance called trimetazidine, a melatonin pill she took for sleep issues and jet lag. She described the ordeal as a “horror and nightmare.” This is one of the reasons why Emma Raducanu is particularly careful about what she ingests. Talking to press a while back, the 22-year-old said, “I think in general, not just me but a lot of the players I know, we’re quite apprehensive. Everything we take, we are very aware of the situation and how easily things can be contaminated. And there are certain supplements that I may want to take but I can’t take them because they’re over-the-counter and they’re not batch tested (pre-tested for prohibited substances).”
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Raducanu also revealed how expensive it is to test everything and why players don’t always have a choice to do so. The Brit added, “To batch test something is £1,000 for one little thing, so it’s very expensive. For the things that you really, really need to take, then it’s obviously worth that, but you just have to cut out a lot of things that you wouldn’t necessarily take. I’m very careful with what I drink, what I eat. If I leave my water around, I’m very on edge about it. But it’s just part of the sport. We’re all in the same boat.”
Iga Swiatek and Emma Radacanu’s statements prove that fighting doping violation cases can be financially straining. It raises the question of whether the lower-ranked players with limited resources can fight for themselves if they test positive. What do you think?
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