One more venue revealed for Jannik Sinner to train during doping ban

Italy’s Jannik Sinner can start training at the famous Monte Carlo Country Club. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, is currently observing a three-month suspension because of his involvement in a doping scandal.

Sinner 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. Despite that, he 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.

“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that it has entered into a case resolution agreement in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, with the player accepting a three-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation that led to him testing positive for clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024,” said the statement. “WADA accepts the athlete’s explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision. WADA accepts that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage. However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence.”

Sinner is now set to return to the court in the first week of May, just few days before the start of the Rome Masters. As per the latest report, he will be allowed to train at the famous Monte Carlo Country Club. The report stated that the reigning world number one will be able to do that because the club is private in nature and is not registered with the FFT.