Sports
Tennis player association led by Novak Djokovic calls anti-doping processes ‘broken’ in letter
The cold war between tennis players and the sport’s integrity authority grew several degrees hotter this week, as the leading but nascent organizing body for tennis players directly questioned the methods by which tennis polices doping and corruption.
In a letter addressed to Karen Moorehouse, the chief executive of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and seen by The Athletic, Ahmad Nassar, the executive director of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), alleged that ITIA investigators have on occasion seized the personal mobile phones of players, harassed their families and threatened players with sanctions and suspensions unless they immediately do what is being demanded of them.
“The reports we have received demonstrate that the ITIA’s investigative process is broken, and that ITIA investigators are abusing their roles,” Nassar wrote.
“While we would hope that these incidents violate the ITIA’s investigative protocols, given the prevalence of complaints, we believe there are flaws at the core of how the ITIA conducts itself,” he added.
Nassar, who leads the PTPA alongside Djokovic, told The Athletic that more than 10 players have contacted the PTPA in recent months to allege aggressive treatment by ITIA investigators.
One player alleged that investigators demanded he turn over his phone and threatened to provisionally suspend him if he contacted a lawyer before doing so. Other players alleged that they were threatened with public disclosure of a provisional suspension without any clear, established grounds for a sanction. These players cannot be identified as doing so would reveal their being under ITIA investigation.
The PTPA did not disclose whether these allegations related to anti-doping offences or anti-corruption offences, and a footnote in Nassar’s letter characterized an investigator as “all individuals acting under the control of the ITIA.”
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In a statement to The Athletic issued through Adrian Bassett, the chief spokesperson for the ITIA, the agency characterized the allegations as “serious, yet generic,” and said that it would investigate any specified allegations of improper behavior.
“It is currently our belief that ITIA investigators work according to the rules, with respect and reflecting our values,” it said.
The agency added that the procedures for issuing a provisional suspension are clearly described in its list of rules regarding anti-doping and anti-corruption, and said that it does not take lightly the decision to take a player’s mobile phone. “It must be necessary, proportionate and lawful. We will not request a device without full consideration of both the intelligence received, and the impact it will have on an individual.”
According to people involved in crafting the letter to the ITIA, who spoke on condition of anonymity to outline the process, the letter marked a change in the PTPA’s strategy in how it engages with the most powerful organizations in tennis.
Nassar copied law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges, which has acted on behalf of the N.F.L. Players Association and the National Basketball Players Association, on the letter. The PTPA has now retained the firm to represent the organization and to explore potential litigation and other challenges to the governing bodies that have controlled tennis for the past half-century — the ATP and WTA Tours, and the four Grand Slam tournaments, all of which were copied on the letter. It has also hired James Quinn, a former Weil partner and sports antitrust attorney.
Ahmad Nassar has been executive director of the PTPA since summer 2022. ( Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for PTPA)
The challenges to the sport’s power structure could take many forms according to Quinn and the involved with crafting the ITIA letter. They include possible antitrust lawsuits, and pleas to the U.S. Congress and other governmental entities.
“You look at tennis and how it treats players and it’s basically pre-Neanderthal,” Quinn said in an interview Thursday. “This is an antitrust fire zone.”
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Nassar’s letter to the ITIA, which requested an initial response by October 15, includes questions about the qualifications and compensation of investigators and doping control officers charged with collecting urine from players for drug tests.
It also asks how the ITIA balances the legal principle of presumption of innocence with its suspension system, in which a player who does not successfully appeal the provisional suspension that comes with a positive doping test is named and banned from the sport while the full ITIA investigation into their test is conducted.
Nassar also asked for clarity on the nature of the evidence the ITIA requires to begin an investigation, whether into doping or anti-corruption, which can include match fixing and spot betting by players or umpires.
“Players sign up to these to be part of events run by our funders (ATP, WTA, Grand Slams and ITF),” the ITIA said.
“Provisional suspensions cannot be issued without due cause, there is a strict process which is adhered to, and an independent appeal process for players.”
The letter comes on the heels of two significant developments for the ITIA.
Last Saturday October 5, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that it would appeal the ITIA’s decision not to suspend men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner for two anti-doping violations.
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Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol in March, but an independent hearing convened by the ITIA found that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” for those positive tests. The tribunal accepted his explanation that he had been contaminated by a healing spray purchased by his trainer, Umberto Ferrara. Sinner’s physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, used the spray on a cut on his hand and then subsequently gave Sinner a massage on his back and applied treatments to his feet, through which Sinner was contaminated.
WADA, which sits above the ITIA is seeking “a period of ineligibility of between one and two years,” in which the two-time Grand Slam champion would be banned from playing tennis. The WADA appeal is now being overseen by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On Thursday October 10, CAS released the written reasons for its decision to reduce the ITIA’s banning of former women’s world No. 1 Simona Halep from four years to nine months. The large discrepancy between CAS and the ITIA’s conclusions, and perceptions of Sinner’s treatment being favorable, have further roiled players’ impressions of the body that governs integrity in their sport.
Simona Halep earlier this month played in Hong Kong after her return to tennis was derailed by injury. (Yu Chun Christopher Wong / Eurasia Images via Getty Images)
“It’s quite obvious that we have a system that is not working well,” Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, said during a news conference in Shanghai. “There’s way too many inconsistencies, way too many governing bodies involved, and, you know, just this whole case is not helping our sport at all.”
Djokovic is a founding member of the PTPA, the organization he and others created four years ago to give players a united voice independent of the two tours, the ATP and the WTA. He is among many players, not all of them PTPA members, who have grown frustrated with the tennis status quo, despite the existence of ATP and WTA player councils which are designed to engage the players with the machinations of the sport which they show off to the world.
“We acknowledge it is not pleasant for players to be under investigation for alleged wrongdoing; however, it is our job to investigate matters thoroughly – to protect everyone in the sport, including PTPA members,” the ITIA said.
Nassar’s letter concurs — to a point.
“The players want a game defined by fair play and integrity, but they do not deserve to be subject to arbitrary and overbearing investigative mistreatment,” he wrote.
(Top photo: Hector Ratamal / AFP via Getty Images)
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Top Milwaukee Brewers prospect Frank Cairone was hospitalized after being involved in a serious car accident near his New Jersey home on Friday, the team announced.
“Frank is currently being cared for at a hospital in New Jersey with the support of his family,” read a statement from the team, via MLB.com. “The Brewers’ thoughts and prayers are with Frank and his family during his difficult time.”
Pitcher Frank Cairone (left) with Green Valley High School (NV) infielder Caden Kirby during the MLB Draft Combine high school baseball game at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The left-handed pitcher turned 18 this past September. He was drafted out of Delsea Regional High School in Franklinville, N.J. at No. 68 overall in the 2025 Draft.
News of the Brewers’ young prospect’s accident came shortly after the team announced it was not in contact with several players in Venezuela after U.S. military strikes in the country and the capture of its President Nicolás Maduro.
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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio (11) is seen before the fifth inning of an MLB game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays on August 31, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON. (Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold revealed the team is unaware of the status of the players in a statement Saturday.
“We don’t have much info at the moment but are trying to follow up,” Arnold said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We know the airports have been shut down but not much beyond that.”
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Pitcher Frank Cairone during the MLB Draft Combine high school baseball game at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The team’s players in Venezuela include star outfielder Jackson Chourio, infielder Andruw Monasterio and catcher Jeferson Quero, according to the outlet.
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It might be time to write a folk song about the demise of City Section basketball using the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title, “Where Have All the Players Gone?”
The talent level clearly has hit rock bottom only a year after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth High and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Section schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early to join USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep school.
Westchester is where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons until his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is where Willie West won 16 City titles and eight state titles. Taft is where Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is where Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and earned most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won City championships before leaving.
None of the City schools once considered among the best in Southern California are even close to resembling their glory days, and they aren’t alone. The City Section has lost most of its talent, and it was truly Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Sun Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There were decades of success.
There’s no one person to blame. You can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the City Section.
But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend and didn’t help matters by opening so many new schools in such rapid fashion that longtime legacy schools lost their luster amid declining student enrollment. Things became even more disruptive by the rise of charter schools and private schools taking away top athletes. Adding to that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucracy issues and rules that force programs to secure permits and pay to use their own gyms in the offseason helped further the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season and an example of where City Section basketball stands. Two top players from last season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t even have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won its first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster sent his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.
Charter schools Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in virtually all City Section sports including basketball. They have no enrollment boundaries as long as there’s a seat for a student. Palisades lost so many students after the wildfire last year that transfers have been big additions for its teams this school year. Online courses are being offered to help students enroll and compete in sports at charter schools.
The old powers from the inner city — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — experienced big changes in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and not teachers. The legacy schools have to compete with charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When young players are discovered and developed, rarely will they stay when one of the private schools or AAU coaches searching for talent spots them in the offseason.
So what’s left? Not much.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the three top teams this season. All three added transfers to help buck the downward trend. And yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.
Maybe this can be a fluke one-year plunge to the bottom and the climb back up can begin, aided by coaches who recognize their job is to teach lessons in basketball, life and college preparation. Parents need a reason to send their kids to a City Section school. It’s up to LAUSD and principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches with integrity, passion and willingness to embrace the underdog role.
There are plenty in the system doing their best. It’s time to start hearing and answering their pleas for help.
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
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Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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