Doping expert believes WADA ‘would make fool of itself’ if Jannik Sinner is not suspended

Jannik Sinner could face a long ban because of WADA who challenged the ITIA's verdict on his case last year.

Doping expert believes WADA ‘would make fool of itself’ if Jannik Sinner is not suspended

Jannik Sinner (Image via X)

Jannik Sinner will be kick-starting his campaign at the Australian Open against Nicolas Jarry. He will be bidding to defend his title, having won the Major last season with a five-set win over Daniil Medvedev.

Sinner’s career, however, could hit a roadblock if the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) verdict comes out against his favor. Doping expert Fritz Sorgel, who is the director of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg, thinks Sinner should be banned for failing drug tests twice.

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Jannik Sinner should be suspended because every athlete is responsible for what he puts in his body. If he is not, the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] would make a fool of itself.

Fritz Sorgel told the German Press Agency (H/T: We Love Tennis)

Sinner is waiting for CAS’s verdict because of the WADA. He failed the drug test because anabolic steroid clostebol was found in his system twice in March last year.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), however, declared that Sinner bore no fault or negligence and won’t be facing a ban, believing in his explanation that clostebol entered his body because of his ex-physio Giacomo Naldi. WADA however challenged the verdict and approached the CAS to demand a ban on the tennis star.

John McEnroe believes Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s doping cases didn’t harm tennis

Tennis great John McEnroe wants to see a commissioner in tennis to clear any doubts about doping cases. Although he doesn’t think the cases of the two high-profile players, Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner, have done any harm to tennis’s reputation, he said making the cases public after months of failing the test has raised eyebrows.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X)

I don’t think it has done any harm because, if you look, it’s much worse in other sports. In my opinion, tennis is cleaner than any other sport, although that doesn’t mean there are no issues.

John McEnroe told ESPN

McEnroe is ready to be a commissioner but thinks there would not be a person in this role in tennis because ‘people are too busy’ and ‘tournaments protect their own interests’. He also accused the tennis bosses of caring only about themselves and not the sport.

The ITIA made Sinner’s case public in August last year. That same month, Swiatek had to deal with uncertainty as the banned drug trimetazidine contaminated her because of melatonin medication. The ITIA however announced Swiatek’s case in November. This, along with them not facing a lengthy ban led to controversy with critics accusing the ITIA of double standards.