An explosive suspicion

“Stinks to high heaven”: expert doesn’t believe Sinner

Jannik Sinner tested positive twice for the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol in March.

(Bild: AFP/2024 Getty Images)

After Jannik Sinner's two positive doping tests became known, doping expert Fritz Sörgel was skeptical about the South Tyrolean's version of events. "An anabolic steroid spray for wound treatment? Ridiculous!" was his conclusion. The whole thing stinks to high heaven. 

"An anabolic steroid spray for wound treatment? That's ridiculous! The anti-doping law wouldn't even allow that," explained Sörgel in an interview with "Sport1". According to the expert, other substances - such as antibiotics - are generally used to treat wounds, casting doubt on the Sinner camp's version of events. 

The tennis world number one from South Tyrol tested positive twice for the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol in March, but was exonerated by the tennis agency ITIA on Thursday. In a statement that he published on social media, Sinner explained that the substance had entered his body via the hands of his physiotherapist. According to the statement, the coach had used a spray containing Clostebol, which is available without prescription in Italy, to treat a cut on his finger.

An explosive suspicion
For Sörgel, a scenario that makes little sense, but the expert expresses an explosive suspicion: "I suspect that this spray is being distributed unofficially and on the internet specifically for high-performance sport." The thinking behind it? "Because it is a doping agent and, as in this case, you can always plead innocence, 'no doping'," says Sörgel.

But even in this case, the German sees inconsistencies: "If someone has a cut, as was allegedly the case with Sinner's physio, then you don't put pounds of ointment on it. But rather thinly. Even if he massages him every day, I think it's very unlikely that the Clostebol penetrates the skin in such quantities that it would show up in the doping test."

For Sörgel, the matter "definitely" has a strange aftertaste: "It stinks to high heaven." If WADA generally does not take action in such cases or the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) does not make clear judgments, "and, as in recent years, acquits on the basis of similar excuses, then it will go on and on. A clear line must now be drawn," demanded Sörgel: "Clostebol automatically leads to a two to four-year ban. There is no way around it." WADA must intervene now.

Can a photo exonerate Sinner?
Meanwhile, the "Gazzetta dello Sport" has published a photo to support the tennis pro's version of events. It shows Sinner's physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi sitting in the stands at Indian Wells last March. Strikingly, he is wearing a small plaster on the little finger of his left hand. 

Sinner was acquitted by an independent tribunal. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reserves the right to appeal. The excitement in the industry is great. Australian professional Nick Kyrgios criticized the decision via X, formerly Twitter. "Ridiculous - whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance... you should be out for two years," wrote the 29-year-old, who reached the final of the grass court classic at Wimbledon in 2022.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov expressed similar sentiments on X: "Different players, different rules," said the former top ten player. "I can hardly imagine how other players feel now who have been banned because of contaminated substances."