by: Kayla Mitchell

Public Relations Manager

As professional sports become more competitive each season, top athletes increasingly seek any possible advantage to get ahead of the game. In response to the rising intensity and talent, doping scandals among elite athletes worldwide have emerged, threatening the integrity of sports. Although various sports and individual leagues maintain their own regulations regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs, organizations must respond equally to all doping cases and exposures. Sports organizations must enforce identical doping consequences for all athletes, regardless of their public status or competitive importance.

Athletes competing at high levels are rarely caught for doping because they familiarize themselves with the regulations placed on performance drugs by their sports organizations. As athletes are exposed for the use of banned substances, sports organizations determine the consequences, typically a ban that prevents the player from competing. As more doping cases emerge, a pattern of favoritism towards popular athletes who contribute to viewership or funding is becoming apparent. In most cases, organizations tend to reprimand influential athletes for shorter periods of time to maintain the attention they bring to the sport.  

Competing in one of the toughest endurance sports in the world, influential tennis professionals have a history of abusing performance-enhancing substances. In 2024, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, both world No. 1 players, tested positive for the use of banned substances. In the spring, Sinner tested positive twice for the use of clostebol, a prohibited anabolic steroid, and shortly after, Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication banned for its connection to improved endurance. The same year, aspiring young tennis player Goncalo Oliveira tested positive for the substance methamphetamine. Oliveira claimed unintentional exposure to the drug through contact, holding the same “no intent to cheat” arguments as Sinner and Swiatek. With support from high-profile legal teams and strong support from influential tennis federations such as the ATP Tour, both Sinner and Swiatek received short banishment periods, only missing parts of the season without Grand Slam tournaments, the biggest attractions to the sport. With no funding for a high-profile legal team or institutional backing from federations, Oliveira faced a four-year ban from the sport, a length that could end a young career. 

Allowing high-profile and influential athletes to receive lighter punishments for doping undermines the standard of equal opportunity in sports. Sports organizations need to punish athletes exposed for use of banned substances equally and not sympathize with high-profile athletes who contribute to the popularity and wealth of a sport. 

(Sources: ESPN, ITIA, NY Times)