L’allenatore di Jannik Sinner spiega perché la stella del tennis non è stata squalificata per doping.
Jannik Sinner’s coach explains why tennis star was not banned for doping
Jannik Sinner’s coach explains why tennis star was not banned for doping
Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill has explained the reasons why the tennis association did not ban the star despite testing positive on two separate occasions. Cahill has also clarified why this situation is different than Simona Halep’s.
Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner plays a shot. (Reuters Photo)
India Today Sports Desk
India Today Sports Desk
New Delhi,UPDATED: Aug 21, 2024 15:08 IST
In Short
Jannik Sinner tests positive for doping
Tennis association does not ban Sinner despite positive tests
Sinner’s coach explains why tennis star was not banned
Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner was not banned despite testing positive for doping twice. Sinner was let go by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after the tribunal convened by Sport Resolutions accepted the Australian Open champion’s explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
This came in sharp contrast against Simona Halep’s case, who was handed a ban of 4 years, later reduced to 9 months after testing positive for a prohibited substance at the 2022 US Open. This fueled controversy in the tennis world, with players and experts alleging double standards against the association.
Jannik Sinner controversy: Explained
Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill has come in defence of the player and has tried to explain the situation to the world. Cahill has alleged that the two cases of Sinner and Halep are completely different in nature.
“I don’t know the intricacies of her particular case, although I do understand that she didn’t know where the contamination came from. So, it took some time for her to determine where it actually came from,” Cahill told ESPN in an interview.
Halep had argued that she had unwittingly ingested the blood-booster Roxadustat through contaminated nutritional supplements.
“With Jannik’s case, they knew exactly where it came from. Within five minutes, they knew this could be the only possible place that it came from. So, they were pretty quick to get the sports resolutions, to get that temporary ban lifted,” he added.
“With Simona’s, I think it took a great deal of time to find out where that contamination came from so she didn’t have a chance to get that emergency meeting and that’s why it probably became public. But again, I’m not an expert in it. I don’t know exactly what happened in her case but I would guess that was probably the reason,” the coach said.
“I’m not an expert in Simona’s case. I supported Simona from the outside because I know her and I know she would never deliberately do anything to try to gain an advantage. She would never cheat, that’s not her character, not her integrity,” Cahill concluded.
