Anti-doping authorities confirmed in August that Sinner twice tested positive for the anabolic androgenic steroid clostebol in March. However, an independent tribunal admitted Sinner’s explanation of unintentional contamination and cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Sinner faces a prospective ban of up to two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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“It’s not a good image and not a good look for our sport,” Djokovic told reporters ahead of the Brisbane International.
“You don’t want to see that. I believe that in the last 20-plus years that I’ve been playing on the professional tour that we’ve been one of the cleanest sports. I’ll keep believing in that clean sport.
“I’m just questioning the way the system works, really, and why certain players are not treated the same as other players.”
Sinner’s was not the only recent high-profile case in the sport as world number two Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban that ended on Dec. 4 after a positive test for trimetazidine, which she said was due to contamination of her sleep medication.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency maintains that all doping cases are dealt with based on facts and evidence and not a player’s name, ranking or nationality, but has not been able to fend off allegations of double standards.
“The issue is the inconsistency and the transparency. We’ve been kept in the dark with Jannik’s case,” Djokovic added.
“I’m not questioning whether he took the banned substance intentionally or not. I believe in a clean sport, I believe that the player will do everything possible to be playing fair.
“I’ve known Jannik since he was very young. He doesn’t strike me as somebody who would do such a thing. But I’ve been really frustrated as (have) most of the other players to see that we’ve been kept in the dark for five months.”
Outspoken Australian Nick Kyrgios said the cases involving Sinner and Swiatek were “disgusting” for the sport and slammed authorities over what he saw as lenient treatment.
(With Reuters inputs)
