Holger Rune’s mother says Jannik Sinner’s doping case is “frightening” raising concerns about the dangers of contamination

Jannik Sinner's three-month suspension is ideal as he will be able to return to the court before the Italian Open and French Open.

Holger Rune’s mother says Jannik Sinner’s doping case is “frightening” raising concerns about the dangers of contamination

Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and his mother Aneke Rune (via X/Daily Express)

The call-out from Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension has continued to send shock waves through the sport. The Italian star has now suffered severe consequences from the doping saga, including the removal of his name from the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award. This has now led Holger Rune’s mother, Aneke Rune, to raise concerns about the dangers of contamination.

Sinner reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over his two positive tests for clostebol in March last year. World No.1 accepted the three-month suspension from the anti-doping agency after it had appealed the doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which would have seen Sinner get perhaps a year’s suspension.

YouTube video

However, Sinner’s settlement with WADA was an indication that the agency accepted his defense. The Italian star had defended last year to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that the banned substance entered his system inadvertently after he received a message from his ex-physio.

The case has left players concerned about the possibility of contamination from a little mistake. In an interview with Rune’s mother Aneke Rune, she revealed that players will become frightened following Sinner’s doping saga.

I personally think that three months and a year of processing time is too long. I don’t know the details of the individual case enough to say whether it is reasonable. If you read a little about clostebol, you can see how frighteningly easy it can be transferred to other people if it has been used by a third party. That, I think, is almost the scariest thing about this case. Think about how many fans you give high fives to the surfaces you touch. Now, clostebol is a prescription drug in most countries, and there is, therefore, little risk of transmission.

Aneke Rune said via Ekstra Bladet

Sinner’s suspension timing has proven to be quite ideal as he will be away from the sport from February 9 to May 4. The three-time Grand Slam champion will be back to the court ahead of the Italian Open and French Open.

Holger Rune’s mother supports Novak Djokovic’s claim that favoritism played a part in Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension

Following the announcement of Jannik Sinner’s three-month settlement with WADA, several players raised concerns about the different treatments other players have gotten failing a drug test. One of them was Novak Djokovic, who raised the subject of favoritism playing a major part in Sinner’s ban.

Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic
Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic (Images via ATP/X)

Aneke Rune was asked about the Serbian’s reaction to the during the aforementioned interview. The Danish star’s mother supported Djokovic’s claim revealing that Sinner wasn’t the first player to accidentally get contaminated.

As I read it, I think most of the athletes’ criticism is that there are such different guidelines in individual cases where there are obvious accidents and not intentional doping.

Aneke Rune said

Players such as Tara Moore and Nick Kyrgios have expressed their frustration about the way Sinner’s case was concluded. Even Stan Wawrinka was critical of the way the anti-doping agency handled the case following the announcement.