Doping specialist Dr Mondenard has criticised the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s conduct in the case regarding Italy’s Jannik
Sinner. The 23-year-old, who is widely regarded as the best player currently
playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, has been in the news for the
wrong reasons after he tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in
two doping tests in March last year.
Sinner, miraculously managed to escape any ban as The
International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared him innocent following a
detailed hearing where his counsel claimed that the substance was available in
the player’s sample because one member of the coaching staff had received a
cream for the treatment of an injury.
WADA appealed against the
ITIA’s verdict in the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a two-year ban for the three-time
Grand Slam winner. However, the issue finally came to a conclusion on Saturday last
week as WADA announced that they had reached an agreement with Sinner, which
will result in the player remaining out of action for three months.
Famous doping specialist Dr Mondenard, in a series of posts
on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — criticised the
role of WADA in the whole process. He also highlighted a similar case of an Italian football player who also tested positive in doping tests for the banned substance clostebol and was subsequently banned for four years.
“The WADA lawyer who knows nothing about clostebol - an
anabolic steroid - claims "this case is a million miles away from
doping". What is his basis for denying doping? We will never know because
WADA refuses to communicate the scientific elements that led to his conviction,”
he wrote. “Sinner's analyses, even at low concentrations, are not proof of
non-doping, especially with a skin penetration method (cream). Was hair
analysis carried out on Sinner and the masseur? Not sure. Ultimately, WADA's
conviction is dubious. The case of Stefano Battaglino, an Italian player who
tested positive in September 2022 for the same product as Sinner, having
invoked the same mode of contamination by Trofodermin cream through a massage
by a physiotherapist during a tournament in Morocco, was suspended for 4 years
by the CAS.”