Sinner Punished

Top ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner has accepted a three-month ban from tennis, to settle a case which has lingered over the sport for months after he twice tested positive for a banned substance.
In an announcement made by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Saturday, the men’s world No. 1 will stay off the court until May 4, owing to a double positive testing for banned substance Clostebol in March 2024.
Sinner had previously avoided suspension from competition, with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announcing in August that he wasn’t at fault for the positive tests. Two samples collected eight days apart at Indian Wells in March 2024 showed low levels of Clostebol, an anabolic steroid. In a statement posted on social media in August, Sinner said the positive tests stemmed from “inadvertent contamination of Clostebol” through treatment from his physiotherapist. The 23-year-old also said that his physio had been applying an over-the-counter spray to their own skin in a bid to treat a small wound.
In a statement, WADA accepted that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage. However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence, hence the three-month suspension. Following the outcome, the three-time grand slam winner has accepted responsibility for the team around him.