LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner accepting a three-month doping ban deal was slammed by his fellow tennis professionals on Saturday.
Sinner and the World Anti-Doping Agency settled on the suspension that means he can play again from May 5, will not lose his No. 1 ranking, will not miss any Grand Slams, and will not lose titles or prize money he earned after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid last March.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka wrote on X, “I don't believe in a clean sport anymore ...”
“Fairness in tennis does not exist,” Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios said on X.
“Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3 month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis."
World No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, speaking after losing in the Open 13 semifinals in Marseille, said, “I hope everyone can discuss with WADA and defend themselves like Jannik Sinner from now on.”
Former British No. 1 Tim Henman told Sky Sport, "When I read the statement this morning it just seems a little bit too convenient.
“Obviously having just won the Australian Open, to miss three months of the tour and therefore to be eligible to play at Roland Garros, the timing couldn't have been any better for Sinner, but I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport.”
The Professional Tennis Players Association, founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, also weighed in on X, posting a statement criticizing the parties involved in the decision-making process: The ATP, WTA, Grand Slams, WADA and International Tennis Integrity Agency.
“The ‘system’ is not a system. It’s a club. Supposed case-by-case discretion is, in fact, merely cover for tailored deals, unfair treatment, and inconsistent rulings. It’s not just the different results for different players. It’s the lack of transparency. The lack of process. The lack of consistency. The lack of credibility in the alphabet soup of agencies charged with regulating our sports and athletes,” the PTPA wrote.
It accused the agencies of unacceptable bias “for all athletes and shows a deep disrespect for every sport and its fans. It’s time for change.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
FILE -Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a backhand return to Alexander Zverev of Germany during the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)
BAGHDAD (AP) — The head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with U.S.-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister announced Friday.
“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," the statement said.
On his Truth Social platform Friday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters” in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government.
“PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!” Trump posted.
A security official said the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place Thursday night but that al-Rifai's death was confirmed Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat IS.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of IS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.
Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront IS, and said it would soon begin work.
The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad. The current interim president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaida militant in Iraq after the U.S. invasion of 2003, and later fought against Assad's government in Syria.
But Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.
“Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.
Strengthening the partnership between the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external powers and better able to determine our own destiny,” he said.
The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an IS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria.
While Syria’s new rulers - led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - have pursued IS cells since taking power, some fear a breakdown in overall security that could allow the group to stage a resurgence.
The U.S. and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.
When the agreement was reached to end the coalition’s mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of IS was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to beat back the remaining cells.
But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to power in late 2022.
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Associated Press staff writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
FILE - Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani listens during a meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, right, shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani, left, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March.14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani, left, speaks during a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein following their meeting, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March.14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
