The world number one tennis player, Janik Sinner, tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol twice in March and was subsequently acquitted by an independent court. This was announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Tuesday. It was also said that the Italian, who had only won his fifth title this year at the ATP Masters in Cincinnati on Tuesday night, could not be accused of negligence.
The players’ association ATP said in a reaction: “It is encouraging for us that Jannik Sinner could not be accused of any fault or negligence.” The ATP acknowledged the “independent assessment of the facts within the framework of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP)”, which had enabled the 23-year-old professional to “continue to compete”.
Sinner’s first positive test was on March 10, 2024, during an in-competition test at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells, California, where small amounts of clostebol were detected. Another sample taken eight days later during a training phase produced the same result. According to the ITIA, a provisional ban was imposed in each case at the time – in both cases Sinner successfully appealed.
Sinner’s explanation was credible – therefore, the player’s appeals to lift the provisional bans were not contradicted
The South Tyrolean has stated that the substance could have entered his body after being contaminated by a member of the support team. The latter had applied a spray containing clostebol, which is available over the counter in Italy, to his own skin to treat a wound. Since the member of the support team massaged and treated Sinner daily from March 5 to 13, there was supposedly an “unwitting transdermal contamination”. After consulting with experts who found Sinner’s explanation credible, the ITIA did not object to the player’s appeals to lift the provisional bans. Despite the double acquittal, Sinner will be stripped of his prize money and ranking points from Indian Wells in accordance with the anti-doping rules.
“I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate time behind me,” Sinner said in a statement at X withHe will “continue to do everything I can to ensure that I comply with the ITIA anti-doping program.”
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The International Tennis Integrity Agency said it referred the case to an independent arbitration panel “to examine the specific facts, review comparable anti-doping decisions and determine what fault, if any, the player was and what outcome was appropriate.” A hearing was finally convened on August 15, according to the statement, “at which the independent tribunal found that there was no fault or negligence in the case, which did not result in a suspension.”
There were some critical comments from the competition. “Ridiculous, whether it was an accident or not,” wrote the Australian Nick Kyrgios at X: “You should be banned for two years. Your performance has improved.” Canadian Denis Shapovalov is not enthusiastic: “I can’t imagine what other players banned for contamination with banned substances are feeling right now.”
“We take every positive test extremely seriously and will always apply the strict procedures of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency, ed.). The ITIA has conducted a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the positive tests, in which Mr. Sinner and his representatives cooperated fully,” explained ITIA Executive Director Karen Moorhouse. “Following this investigation, the ITIA accepted the player’s explanation. This was also accepted by the court.” WADA and the Italian Anti-Doping Agency can appeal the decision.
