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It was revealed that world-class tennis player Jannik Sinner tested positive for a banned substance twice in March. However, he was acquitted of all charges after it was proven that he had been contaminated by his physiotherapist.
During the hard court tournament in Indian Wells, California, Sinner was found to have a low metabolite of clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid that can be used for ophthalmic and dermatological purposes. Eight days later, Sinner tested positive again in an out-of-competition sample.
Sinner was provisionally suspended and stripped of prize money and points earned at Indian Wells as a result of these test results. However, he will not be banned because an independent court found that this was not intentional.
The 23-year-old Italian said his test result came about because a member of his support team treated a small wound with an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol. That team member then massaged Sinner, leading to infection via “skin lesions” on the player’s body.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which first made the case public on Tuesday, said it accepted Sinner’s explanation.
In a statement, Sinner’s representatives said: “After a thorough and comprehensive investigation, ITIA and Jannik determined that the inadvertent contamination with clostebol occurred as a result of treatment by his physiotherapist. His fitness coach purchased a product available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy and gave it to Jannik’s physiotherapist to treat a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger. Jannik was unaware of this, and his physiotherapist was unaware that he was using a product containing clostebol.
“The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and caused the unintentional contamination along with various skin injuries on Jannik’s body.”
An independent panel held a hearing on August 15 and “concluded that there was no fault or negligence in this case and therefore no suspension was imposed,” the ITIA said.
Sinner added: “I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that I continue to comply with the ITIA anti-doping program.
“I have a team around me that is very conscientious about complying with its own regulations.”
Sinner won the Cincinnati Open on Monday and is one of the favorites for the US Open, which begins next week in New York. In June he reached the top position in the ATP rankings and, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, is one of the top stars of the new generation of men’s tennis.
In January he won the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam title. In June he reached the semifinals of the French Open and in July the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before sitting out the Olympic Games in Paris because he was suffering from tonsillitis.
Additional reporting by AP
