Jannik Sinner, the top men’s tennis player, has been banned from playing tournaments for three months. @janniksin on X
Jannik Sinner’s doping scandal has sent ripples across both the tennis and the anti-doping world. The current world number one tennis player has recently accepted a three month ban due to testing positive for clostebol, a synthetic anabolic- androgenic steroid. In two urine tests one week apart, Sinner had less than a billionth of a gram in his bloodstream.
Sinner claimed that the substance had entered his system unintentionally, through a massage session with his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi. Naldi had applied an over-the-counter spray called Trofodermin, which contains clostebol. The medicine was used to treat a small wound, and was bought by Sinner’s fitness coach, Umberto Ferrara. In Italy, medicines containing clostebol are readily available over the counter.
Due to this scandal, Sinner was provisionally suspended from tennis on April 4, 2024 for violating parts of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. He then lodged an appeal to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which approved his appeal and let him continue playing at the cost of losing four hundred points and the 325,000 dollars which he had won during Indian Wells, the latest tournament he had played in. Additionally, in August 2024, a private tribunal was held by the ITIA, which resulted in Sinner being absolved of all charges, after being backed by three scientific experts who agreed that he had been accidentally contaminated with the steroid through massage. They said that even if Sinner had taken the steroid, the amount proved insignificant to his performance and would not have been able to affect his performance in any way.
Even though Sinner was temporarily absolved by the ITIA, he was not in the clear yet. On September 26, 2024, the ITIA’s decision was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who said, “It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules.” They clarified that they did not dispute the fact that it could have been a contamination, but realized that the situation was not handled correctly under the rules of WADA. Consequently, they handed Sinner a three month ban from tennis. Sinner said in an interview, “I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
A majority of tennis players and fans all around the world feel betrayed by this situation. They have lost faith in the anti-doping authorities following the ban, claiming it was handled very unprofessionally and took too long to reach a verdict. “It’s not a good image for our sport, that’s for sure,” twenty-four-time major champion Novak Djokovic said. “There’s a majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also [in the] last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process [for Sinner] has been handled.” Furthermore, many players think agencies are playing favorites, and that the best in the world may be able to use their status and money to alter the results of their case. Jessica Pegula, one of the best women’s tennis players in the world said, “Whether you think he did or you don’t, or whatever side you’re on, the process just seems to be completely not a process. It seems to just be whatever decisions and factors they take into consideration, and they just make up their own ruling. I don’t really understand how that’s fair for athletes, how it’s fair for players when there’s just so much inconsistency and you have no idea.”
For many tennis players, Sinner’s doping has caused huge disappointment in the worldwide anti-doping agencies, and has caused a level of uncertainty in how these matters will be handled in the future.
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