Jannik Sinner declared ‘innocent’ by Italian great despite ‘not democratic’ appeal criticism
Italian tennis icon Adriano Panatta has claimed the doping appeals process is “not democratic” for players despite backing Jannik Sinner’s “innocence”.
Sinner’s doping case is back in the spotlight after the World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed an appeal regarding the severity of his punishment from the International Tennis Integrity Association.
He was found to be of “no fault or negligence” after twice testing positive for clostebol back in March, his punishment consisting of him being stripped of his Indian Wells prize money and ranking points.
The world No 1 successfully argued that he was inadvertently contaminated by physio Giacomo Naldi, who had used a skin cream containing the banned steroid to treat a cut on his hand before massaging Sinner.
Sinner was able to appeal against an initial suspension after both tests and news of the violations did not emerge until the investigation was complete.
WADA is not appealing the “no fault” verdict issued by the ITIA but is appealing for Sinner to be suspended for a period between one to two years for the violations.
In a staunch defence of his compatriot, former world No 4 Panatta – the last Italian man to win a singles major before Sinner – claimed the current world No 1 was “innocent” of any wrongdoing.
“Sinner is innocent. The substance detected is infinitesimal, we know that Clostebol is transmitted extremely easily, a handshake is enough,” said Panatta.
“It was a case of an error, or of imprudence on the part of the physiotherapist.”
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However, Panatta did point out what he believed to be a significant flaw regarding Sinner’s case.
Many have questioned why the Australian and US Open champion was able to appeal both initial suspensions and keep playing while under investigation, whereas the likes of Tara Moore faced lengthy suspensions before being cleared.
And Panatta has claimed the appeals process is “not democratic” for players, with proceedings unfairly weighted towards higher-ranked stars.
He added: “The appeals system is not democratic. I believe in Sinner’s innocence, but I also believe in the right to an adequate defence, even for those with fewer resources.
“The problem is that the best players have incomes that allow them to pay the best lawyers, while there are tennis players on the circuit who have difficulty buying a plane ticket.”
Speaking after news of WADA’s appeal emerged, Sinner admitted he was “disappointed and surprised” by the decision.
The Italian is currently in China Open action, looking to defend the title he won a year ago.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings,” said Sinner following his round two win against Roman Safiullin.
“All three hearings came out very positively for me. You know, I was not expecting it. I knew it a couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official, so…
“But yeah, it’s a surprise. We always talk about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”
