The lawyer for Australian swimmer Shayna Jack says tennis superstar Jannik Sinner will likely be held to account for his failed drug test, and could face a ban from the sport of up to two years.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are appealing against an independent ruling that cleared the world No 1 of responsibility for testing positive for a banned substance.
Sinner first tested positive for banned anabolic steroid clostebol during Indian Wells on March 10, then again eight days later.
He was provisionally suspended, but on both occasions he successfully appealed and was allowed to continue playing while the evidence was assessed.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency took the case to an independent tribunal in August, when Sinner’s explanation for why there had been an extremely small quantity of clostebol in his system – less than a billionth of a gram – was accepted.
Sinner was successful in convincing the tribunal that his two positive tests had been a consequence of contamination.
The lawyer for Australian swimmer Shayna Jack predicts that Jannik Sinner will be banned
Physio Giacomo Naldi (left) and fitness coach Umberto Ferrara (right) pictured with Sinner (centre) after the tennis star won the 2024 Australian Open in January
On September 26, the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed against the verdict that there was ‘no fault or negligence’ on Sinner’s behalf. WADA argues that the ruling is not in line with the applicable rules.
WADA has suggested it would like to see Sinner ruled ineligible for a period of between one and two years.
Brisbane-based lawyer Tim Fuller, who represented Shayna Jack after she tested positive to a banned substance, believes the tennis body’s decision on Sinner will be overturned.
‘In my opinion I believe that the no fault or negligence decision will be overturned on appeal and a sanction will be imposed,’ Fuller told this The Sydney Morning Herald.
‘I would suggest that it’s a very, very unusual case,’ he added.
‘All WADA are really doing here is saying we accept that it is unintentional but you bear, or did bear, a certain degree of fault or negligence for what’s happened … we say that you, as the athlete, bear the ultimate responsibility – which is strict liability – and we say, therefore, you have demonstrated fault and negligence in your actions.
‘And then we’re going to look at now [what] we say is between a mid- to high-range level of fault or negligence, and that’s why they’re seeking [a ban of] one to two years.
‘One year would be deemed to be at the high end of the low fault standard. Zero to 12 [months] is the range for low fault.’
The Italian tennis star avoided a ban after twice failing drugs tests
The explanation provided by Sinner was that a month before travelling to Indian Wells, fitness coach Umberto Ferrara bought an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol in Italy.
Then during the Indian Wells event, physio Giacomo Naldi cut his finger and was advised by Ferrara to use the spray to treat the wound.
According to a statement from the Sinner team: ‘The physiotherapist treated Jannik and his lack of care coupled with various open wounds on Jannik’s body caused the contamination.’
The tribunal heard that Sinner suffers from skin condition psoriasiform dermatitis, which can cause irritation and, if scratched, cuts and sores. This was accepted as the reason for the clostebol entering his body via the physio’s finger.
Sinner has since dismissed both Ferrara and Naldi from his team.
