No agree CD. And Tara wouldn't have gone down that route anyway because she wouldn't have wanted to admit the violation because she believed she could be fully exonerated. Which she was in the end.

(I've edited my original post as in typing too quickly I had originally written something that suggested Tara was found to have committed a violation but circumstances meant no punishment, when actually she and Gatica were cleared of the original violation).

9vicman wrote:

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In fact Case Resolution Agreements are not unusual and often been reached prior to an independent tribunal rather than an appeal as in the case.

What is different on this occasion is that Sinner challenged the initial finding and the tribunal found in his favour. It was only when WADA appealed, and it was generally believed that CAS would not find in his favour, that Sinner (or Sinner's lawyers) chose to settle.

Presumably Sinner could have accepted the charge in the first place and ITIA might very well have given him a 3 month suspension, and we could have avoided all these additional accusations of special treatment.

But the timing sucks. Why couldn't have Sinner's lawyers settled as soon as WADA submitted their appeal in September, but instead wait until after the Australian Open. I mean I know why, but that's where the look isn't good, particularly after the provisional suspension was overturned too.

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 Interestingly though, messages on X this weekend from Liam and others suggest they werent aware of the CRA route. Is it well known, or does it need good lawyers to negotiate - again, not a good luck if that leads to less financially well off players not being able to take the same route as more well known players 

Stircrazy wrote:

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Beeb analysis of the background to Sinner's doping ban.  Interesting paragraph:

But it is clear Sinner - and five-time women's major champion Iga Swiatek, who received a one-month suspension last year after testing positive for heart medication trimetazidine - have benefitted from being able to pay top lawyers to act quickly.

Also interesting that Sinner's now ex-fitness trainer (Umberto Ferrara) has wormed his way into Matteo Berrettini's entourage.

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 As posted before, Iga has been very upfront about this, saying it was absolutely true, and explaining all her costs - good to have some actual figures 

Iga said, about her special position, as 'rich' and a top player: 

"Certainly, the fact that I have such a position helped me gather people around me who, as soon as I learned about the situation, went to great lengths to help me.

The 23-year-old continued, "A few hours after I found out, we all met and brainstormed. I hired a lawyer from the United States who specialises in such matters. The fact that I have already earned a lot of money and can afford to spend it on my defense, without a second thought, definitely helped.

I know that many athletes dont have such opportunities, and I think thats something that might hold them back,because I actually paid for the entire process.

I spent about $70,000 on a lawyer, and EUR 15,000 on expert opinions and tests. On top of that, there was the loss of the prize money from Cincinnati ($158,944), but, honestly, that didnt matter to me.

The most important thing was to prove my innocence. Im sharing these amounts so people can realise the kind of problems athletes face, especially those who dont earn as much money as I do on the court and compete in sports where earnings are much lower."