Roberto Tortora
2024 for Jannik Sinner it was a triumphal year, but it is now coming to an end and forces us to think of 2025 as a new and tougher challenge to face. To maintain the top of the ATP ranking and, above all, to climb over the obstacle WADA in the most painless way possible. The ruling of the appeal, regarding the positivity to Clostebol during the last edition of Indian Wellsis expected for the month of February, immediately after the Australian Open. What concrete risks does the South Tyrolean tennis player run and how will he have to manage the season?
To clarify, thelawyer Angelo Cascellaexpert in international sports law and former member of TAS of Lausanne. This is his prediction: “Since analyzes have been carried out and the existence of doping traces has been demonstrated, the athlete risks a sentence of one to two years. In these cases there may be fraud or guilt o negligence. In the first case the sentence can reach up to four years of disqualification, in the second, as required for Sinner, it ranges from one to two years.”
Because, however, if theHATE had acquitted Sinner, did Wada appeal? The lawyer Cascella clarifies: “Because the law provides that it is forbidden to find, in the analyzes to which an athlete is subjected, substances included in the list of prohibited ones. If in the analyzes of blood o urine banned substances are found of which the athlete and staff are perfectly aware, in this case the trigger is triggered responsibility of the athlete. In fact, he is responsible for the substances found in his body and, in Sinner’s case, some of them were detected in the checks carried out on 10 and 18 March 2024. The athlete would have had the right to carry out counter-analysis, however he preferred not to request them and for this reason he was automatically suspended.”
“Sinner appealed in both cases and the Federation – explains the ex-TAS member – allowed him to return to play immediately. However, having found substances in the analyses, the athlete had to justify their existence, explaining the origin of this presence, taking advantage of an independent tribunal, the ITIA heard Sinner, the witnesses and his experts, deeming that there was no responsibility on the part of the athlete. Despite this, WADA legitimately exercised its right to dispute. appeal by pressing the decision at the CAS”. the parties agree and Jannik perhaps loses the central months of the year, but can still compete to defend his status in the ATP rankings.
