Disgraced Italian star claims Jannik Sinner ‘will almost certainly’ face doping ban
Jannik Sinner “will almost certainly” be banned for his doping violation, according to disgraced former Italian player Daniele Bracciali.
World No 1 Sinner was initially found to be of “no fault or negligence” after twice testing positive for banned steroid clostebol this March, and was handed no ban for the sanction.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed in September that they were appealing the initial ruling in the 23-year-old’s case.
Sinner’s case has attracted huge attention and debate from in and outside the tennis world, and now another Italian player believes his compatriot will also be punished.
Speaking to Mowmag, former world No 49 Daniele Bracciali – who received a lifetime ban for match-fixing in 2018 – defended Sinner, but believed he would face further punishment.
He said: “How will the Sinner case end? Unfortunately, knowing the environment of WADA and ITIA, I believe that a disqualification will almost certainly arrive.
“It is not right to disqualify a tennis player if it is found that he has not taken drugs to improve performance and in the case of the Italian it really has not changed anything. Objective responsibility in this situation is a real scam.
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“He is very strong and he has shown it. But there is no doubt that a similar decision would weigh on him, even if we do not know how he could eventually react.
“From a mental point of view, let’s not forget how heavy a sentence like that can be, because Sinner is also human, but perhaps many forget this.
“In his case, it is even heavier because he knows in his heart that he has done nothing wrong. How do you metabolize the fact that objective responsibility can lead to disqualification? It is really hard.”
Bracciali further doubled down on his defence of the 23-year-old, claiming the world No 1 still has widespread support in Italy – and claiming a ban would be a “dirty trick”.
He added: “I think all Italians have understood who Sinner is, even if there will always be some detractors, but the right solution would be acquittal.
“For him, a period with a lot of tension would finally end, even though he is managing it almost perfectly.
“From the point of view of the rankings, however, if the disqualification were to arrive, it would change little for him, because with a [big] point advantage, Jannik can easily remain still for three or four months.
“But it would be an indelible stain on his career, even if we all know that he is in good faith. Disqualifying him would really be a dirty trick, which unfortunately they have done in other cases.”
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