Jannik Sinner has been totally cleared by anti-doping authorities after his physiotherapist accidentally contaminated the world No. 1 with a banned substance.
The curious case began when officials notified the Sinner camp of a positive test for a microscopic – less than one-billionth of a gramme – of Clostebol..
Investigations showed that the contamination came from the fingers of the player’s physio, who had treated a cut on his own hand with a legal over-the-counter medication which contained Clostebol.
“Jannik knew nothing of this, and his physiotherapist did not know that he was using a product containing Clostebol,” Sinner’s camp said on Tuesday in a statement.
“The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and coupled with various skin lesions on Jannik’s body caused the inadvertent contamination.
“Jannik has cooperated fully with the investigation from the beginning. The ITIA is battling misconduct in sport and doping in particular.
“Following forensic investigation and an independent hearing, the
Independent Tribunal decided that Jannik is innocent. He is not at fault.”
But under strict enforcement measures, Sinner will lose his ranking points form the Indian Wells tournament played last march.
“I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA’s anti-doping programme and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance,” the player said.
Main photo:- Jannik Sinner playing at Indian Wells
