Written by Richard Pagliaro | @Itenisi_Manje | Monday, December 16, 2024
Photo credit: Will Murray/Getty
The King of WADA believes Jannik Sinner would have been contaminated with the banned steroid clostebol.
But he says the world No. 1 is still responsible for failing a doping test last March.
WADA Director Olivier Niggli explained why the organization is appealing Sinner's case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport—and is seeking a one- to two-year ban from the US Open champion.
More: Digging Deeper into the Jannik Sinner Doping Case
Last March, Sinner was twice tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol at “low levels” which the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced in August days before the start of the US Open.
Australian Open champion Sinner was not suspended and allowed to play because an independent tribunal ruled he was “not guilty” of a steroid contamination in his system.
“The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirms that an independent panel called by Sport Resolutions has determined that Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner is not guilty or negligent of two anti-doping violations under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP) ), twice tested positive for banned clostebol in March 2024,” ITIA announced in an August 20 statement.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Sinner categorically denies doping or cheating.
In a new interview no AFP, WADA Director Niggli said that even if Sinner's story of infection is true, he should still bear some responsibility and be suspended from work to be tested for the virus. That is why WADA appealed Sinner's case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, said Niggli.
“It is considered in the decision that there is no mistake on the part of Soni. Our point is that the athlete is still responsible for his team,” Niggli told AFP. “So this is the point of law that will be discussed (before CAS).
“We don't disagree with the possibility of contamination. But we believe that the application of the laws is not compatible with the criminal law.”
WADA appeals against tennis player Jannik Sinner. Read more here: https://t.co/vExHGdmkZG
– WADA (@wada_ama) September 28, 2024
At the US Open, Sinner said he was contaminated with the banned substance, clostebol, by contacting his physiotherapist.
Admitting he was “concerned” he might be banned, Sinner said he hoped he would be cleared because he believed the small amounts of clostebol in his system strengthened his claim of inadvertent contamination.
“I was definitely worried, because it was my first time, you know, and hopefully my last time in this situation, position,” Sinner said. “There is also a different part that we have to see is the sum I had in my body, which is 0.000000001, so there are many zeros before the 1 appears.
“So I was worried, of course, because I've always been a player who worked very carefully, very carefully in this. I believe that I'm an honest player on and off the field.”
Sinner's case was brought back into the open in September after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal from Italy. Stefano Battaglino against his ban back in October 2023.
On September 12, 2024, the CAS court upheld the four-year TADP suspension issued by an independent court for the first time against Battaglino, who, like Sinner, was found to be in possession of clostebol.
Battaglino, who reached the world singles peak of No. 760 in July 2022, tested positive for clostebol and its metabolites following a mid-competition test in September 2022.
Finally, in Battaglino's case, the CAS court ruled that he “did not prove the source of the positive test, and that the arguments provided were “manifestly insufficient” to prove that the Anti-Drug Abuse was not intentional.”
WADA Director Niggli said he expects a decision on Sinner's doping case in early 2025.
“There will be nothing by the end of the year,” Niggli told AFP when asked to set a timeline for the resolution of the appeal against CAS.
