It is very unlikely that Jannik Sinner took a banned substance deliberately, but the outcome of the “agreement” with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has left Patrick Mouratoglou aghast.
Having twice tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol last March, Sinner was provisionally suspended before being given permission to continue playing pending an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
Five months later he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ITIA as they accepted his explanation that his positive tests came after accidental contamination via one of his team members.
He was stripped of his ranking points and prize money for the Indian Wells Open, the tournament where he returned the positive samples.
However, that was not the end of the matter as WADA announced they had appealed the decision not to ban him as they demanded he be suspended for a minimum of between one and two years.
The was case set to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in April, but last week WADA announced they had reached a settlement with Sinner and he would serve a three-month ban.
The tennis community, though, has reacted with outrage respected coach Mouratoglou taking to Instagram to share his views, stating: “I think this Sinner case is a huge scandal. It’s not about him being guilty or not, the question is more about how the anti-doping dealt with the situation. Everyone feels that there is a double standard, which there is, clearly.
“It’s very unlikely he [purposefully] did doping, first of all – and this is a personal statement – I don’t think this is his mindset at all, I don’t think that is his mentality to do doping. Second, when you find such low levels of a forbidden product in someone, in 90 percent of the cases – if not more – it is a contamination. So, the player is then a victim, and that’s why I think he is innocent.”
The Frenchman believes the Sinner case was initially “covered up” as the public was only informed of his positive tests in August last year.
He added: “When a player is controlled positive, in 100 percent of the case, it is the anti-doping [agencies] that make a public statement. As soon as this statement is out, the player is provisionally suspended which means he is not allowed to play anymore – until the case is finished and there is a decision as to whether he is guilty to not.
“In Sinner’s case, the ITIA, which is the anti-doping [agency], have decided to cover it [up], they didn’t make it public that he has been controlled positive, they didn’t say anything [they didn’t say] that he has been suspended, provisionally, like every other player would have been. So, this is clearly a double standard.
“We want a clean sport, and there is no clean sport is there is a double standard, depending on who the player is. It should be only about ‘did this player do doping? Yes or no?’”
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The ITIA initially stated that they found Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” as he was deemed not guilty, something that has upset Mouratoglou.
He continued: “Second, after five months, they decided to make it public that he had been control positive five months before, it was also said at the same time that he is not guilty. But, in other cases, the player is supposedly guilty because there is a public statement saying that he was control positive, so for five, six months, maybe one year, two years in some cases, for everyone, this player is doing doping and – for that period of time, that player cannot compete anymore.
“Which means he cannot get points, he cannot get money, but, more than anything he gets out of competition for such a long period that, in some cases, his career is over, so they’re destroying the career of a player. In Sinner’s case, again, no statement, and when they did five months later, it is to say that he is not guilty.”
The timing of the three-month ban has certainly raised eyebrows and as the suspension will run from 9 February until 4 March.
Mouratoglou feels it was “an arrangement” so that Sinner could play at the Australian Open before returning for his home ATP Masters 1000 event, the Italian Open, with the French Open set to follow two weeks later.
“During the Australian Open, we learnt that Sinner will be auditioned by WADA in April, so we think it’s going to be like a real tribunal, that will assess the case and decide whether he’s guilty or not,” he added.
“Right after the Australian Open, six weeks before when he was supposed to have been auditioned, they decide to take a decision after negotiating with him for a three-month ban. No audition, no review of the case, and a decision that is ideal for him because he could play the Australian Open – and win it – and is going to be safe to play the next Grand Slam, which is at the end of May-start of June at Roland Garros.
“So, it looks like they make an arrangement to make it look like that banned him a little bit, but not too much so he can play the Grand Slams, and, if you look at it, he’s going to be able to come back and play Rome just before Roland Garros – being Italian – so it looks even more like a set-up. It looks like a parody of justice, I understand that other players feel ‘where is the justice then?’”
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