Tennis world number 1 Jannik Sinner fails TWO doping tests for banned steroid but receives NO suspension after giving bizarre excuse
Jannik Sinner will not be suspended, despite the fact that he has passed two positive doping tests. This was announced on Tuesday.
The world number 1 tested negative twice earlier this year for the banned substance Clostebol.
Although he failed both tests, these were not made public as the player successfully appealed against the provisional suspensions imposed on him over the infection.
A statement the Italian posted on social media on Tuesday revealed that he had tested positive in April for a trace amount of Clostebol, less than a billionth of a gram.
He then explained how the positive result had come about. He said that his fitness trainer had bought a product that was ‘easily available without a prescription’ in a pharmacy.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will not be suspended after being cleared after two positive doping tests
The stylish Italian player has posed for Gucci photoshoots, one of many lucrative collaborations
“After a thorough and extensive investigation, ITIA and Jannik discovered that the unintentional contamination of Clostebol occurred through the treatment of his physiotherapist,” the statement said.
‘His fitness trainer bought a product, which was easily available without a prescription in any Italian pharmacy, which he gave to Jannik’s physiotherapist to treat a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger. Jannik knew nothing about this and his physiotherapist did not know that he was using a product containing Clostebol.
‘The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and in combination with several skin lesions on Jannik’s body, unintentional contamination occurred.’
Sinner won the Cincinnati Open on Monday, a competition he was allowed to compete in after appealing the provisional suspension he was given after testing positive.
The reigning Australian Open champion had also reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros and the last eight at Wimbledon, but was forced to miss the Olympic tournament due to tonsillitis.
However, he will lose the ranking points and prize money he earned at the Indian Wells event, where he was defeated in the last four by Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner added in the statement released Tuesday that he will try to move on from the “disturbing” period. His lawyer confirmed that there is “no doubt” about his client’s innocence.
‘I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that I remain compliant with the ITIA Anti-Doping Programme and I have a team around me that complies rigorously with this.’
Sinner’s lawyer Jamie Singer added: ‘Anti-doping rules have to be very strict to be effective. Unfortunately, the unfortunate result is that sometimes completely innocent athletes get caught up in them. There is no question that Jannik is innocent in this case.
‘The ITIA has not disputed that core principle. However, under the rules of strict liability, Jannik is responsible for everything in his system, even if he is completely unaware of it, as in this exceptional case.’
