Jannik Sinner’s nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award has been withdrawn after he was given a three-month doping ban.
The world number one accepted an immediate three-month ban from tennis earlier this month after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency over his two positive drugs tests last year.
The 23-year-old Italian, who won the Australian Open in January, is suspended from 9 February until 4 May.
“Following discussions by the Laureus Academy, it has been decided that Jannik Sinner’s nomination for this year’s Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award is to be withdrawn,” Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Sean Fitzpatrick said.
“We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and – whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved – feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible.
“Jannik and his team have been informed.”
Sinner had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel after testing positive for the banned substance clostebol in March.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) investigation found that Sinner had been inadvertently contaminated with the anabolic steroid by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.
Wada, having launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), initially sought a ban of up to two years for the three-time Grand Slam champion.
However, Wada reached a settlement after accepting Sinner was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance and “did not intend to cheat”.
The nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards, selected by a panel of journalists and broadcasters, will be announced on 3 March.
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