Nadal defends Sinner, antidoping bodies after the Italians’ positive tests
NEW YORK Rafael Nadal has defended world No. 1 Jannik Sinner after the Italian man tested positive for a banned drug but escaped punishment, claiming that Sinner would never have thought about doping and that his ranking as the best player did not make him any less of a person.
Sinner tested positive for the muscle-building steroid clostebol in March, but he was exonerated by a tribunal upon discovering that his physiotherapist had sprayed a cut on his own hand prior to treating the Italian.
Players had accused Sinner of unfair treatment when he was absolved of any wrongdoing at the US Open, despite the fact that others had received interim suspensions for similar positive test results. However, Nadal insisted that antidoping agencies should be believed.
“I believe in people’s good intentions most of the time, which is either a virtue or a lack. “I know Sinner, I don’t think that Sinner has ever wanted to dope,” Nadal said on “El Hormiguero,” a Spanish television program.
“I don’t think we have to agree with the solution only when it fits our preconceived notions. Justice is justice in the end, and I think that justice exists.
“I believe in the bodies that have to make decisions, and that really make them based on what they believe is right.”
Sinner failed two drug tests in March, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared him. Sinner has always insisted on his innocence, claiming that the amount of clostebol in his system was less than a billionth of a gram.
The sport’s governing organizations founded the ITIA as an independent organization in 2021.
While Australian Nick Kyrgios stated Sinner should have been banned regardless of the mode of doping, whether it was “accidental or planned,” Novak Djokovic asked for “clear protocols” and “standardized” approaches to doping incidents.
Nadal asserted that Sinner had not received special treatment from the authorities, nevertheless.
Nadal, who withdrew from the US Open due to fitness concerns, continued, “I’m totally confident that if he has not been sanctioned, it is because those who have had to judge this case have seen very clearly that there were no sanctions to be imposed.”
“I don’t think that just because he is a sinner, he won’t face consequences; I think that he will face consequences because he is someone else. I am persuaded of that and I genuinely believe it.
“Thereafter, other people’s viewpoints are also entirely legitimate. However, this is just my viewpoint.”
