The winner of Australian Open and US Open “did not commit any fault or negligence,” the independent tribunal requested by the ITIA had ruled at the end of August.
The Italian maintains that he was contaminated by a member of his medical staff, who allegedly applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own hand before massaging the player and accidentally introducing the banned substance into the athlete’s body.
The explanation was accepted by the ITIAbut it did not convince the AMA. The anti-doping authority requested a suspension of one to two years for the number one.
“In the decision it was considered that there was no fault of Sinner. Our position is that the athlete remains responsible to those around him,” he explained to AFP. Olivier Nigglidirector general of the WADA, in December.
“So it is this legal point that will be debated” before the TAS. “We do not dispute that it could have been contamination, but we believe that the application of the rules does not correspond to jurisprudence,” he added.
ITIA was criticized for revealing Sinner’s positive tests late but also that of world number 2 Iga Swiatek (positive for trimetazidine in August, announcement in November).