Steroid Fingers? A Top Tennis Player Gets to Keep Playing in a Controversial Decision
Jannik Sinner kisses a trophy he won at the Australian Open. He claims to have tested positive for anabolic steroids due to the fingers of his massage therapist. Photo credit: Victor Velter / Shutterstock.com.
Sinner, the number one men’s singles tennis player in the world, failed anti-doping tests twice in March but will not be suspended because of it, said the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in a statement.
Sinner’s first positive test came on March 10 during the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, California, according to the ITIA’s report.
That sample had traces of Clostebol, an anabolic agent used for topical use in dermatological and ophthalmological preparations, according to research cited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It’s an anabolic steroid prepared from testosterone.
The positive test led to a provisional suspension, which the ITIA lifted a few days after Sinner appealed.
Clostebol Fingers?
Then Sinner tested positive for the second time eight days later, when again Clostebol was found in his urine sample.
Again, he received a provisional suspension. Again, he appealed. And again, the ITIA lifted the suspension. Why? Because Sinner’s team presented what the ITIA found was scientifically credible evidence that the anabolic steroid was introduced to his system through the fingers of his physiotherapist, according to the ITIA’s statement. The physiotherapist had supposedly used a legal substance to treat his hands for a cut and had unintentionally transferred the substance to Sinner’s skin during massage.
Still Lost Money and Points
Although the ITIA cleared Sinner of intentional wrongdoing, he still lost half a million dollars in prize money and points won at the Indian Wells semifinals for testing positive for the banned substance, as dictated by the standards of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) and the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP), according to the ITIA’s statement.
The Italian himself released a statement about the lifting of his suspension. “I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me,” Sinner said in an Instagram post. “I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA anti-doping program and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance.”
Incredulous Reactions
Sinner’s exoneration by the ITIA caused a massive uproar in the tennis world since many players who went through the same thing got lengthy suspensions. Compared to Sinner, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, who also unintentionally ingested traces of a substance called Roxadustat, was handed a four-year ban in 2022. Still, it was cut to nine months after a successful appeal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling.
One of the first to publicly react to the ITIA letting Sinner off the hook was Nick Kyrgios, an Australian former tennis player who now serves as a TV personality. “Whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for two years”, Kyrgios wrote in an X post.
“This is ridiculous. Second-hand steroids through a massage?? ATP always looks out for their money-makers. Good for business, bad for transparency and integrity,” said Tennys Sandgren, a tennis player from Tennessee, in another post.
Not everyone found the decision controversial. The Association of Tennis Professionals (STP) published its own statement, supporting Sinner.
“We are encouraged that no fault or negligence has been found on Jannik Sinner’s part. We would also like to acknowledge the robustness of the investigation process and independent evaluation of the facts under the TADP, which has allowed him to continue competing. This has been a challenging matter for Jannik and his team and underscores the need for players and their entourages to take utmost care in the use of products or treatments. Integrity is paramount in our sport.”
It remains to be seen whether WADA will use its right to appeal the ruling and reopen the case to have Sinner re-suspended, according to the ITIA’s statement. If found guilty, Sinner could face up to a four-year suspension.
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