Social media police dig deep into Jannik Sinner’s dope case by tracking Giacomo Naldi’s fingers throughout Indian Wells to find shocking evidence
Jannik Sinner's physio, Giacomo Naldi, has been identified as the person responsible for the Italian's doping violations.
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Jannik Sinner's physio had a bandage on his finger, picture reveals (Images via X, Sky Sports)
Italian tennis ace and World No.1 Jannik Sinner has landed in massive trouble after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed that the player had failed two anti-doping tests back in March, at the Indian Wells Open this year. Although Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ITIA because he bore no fault and negligence for the presence of a banned substance in his body, criticism followed the Italian.
From former players to current players as well as tennis fans, everyone took shots at Sinner and the ITIA for keeping the case hidden for over five months. Despite clarification from the ITIA, discussions about bias and preferential treatment have been doing the rounds on the internet.
Among the discussions, there is also an investigation being carried out to determine the truthfulness of the explanation given by the ITIA for clearing Sinner of any wrongdoing. As the governing body held Sinner’s physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, and the cut on his finger responsible for the presence of the banned substance in the player’s body, investigations were carried out.
Renowned journalist Ben Rothenberg looked at the footage from the Indian Wells Open to determine if Naldi had the bandage removed from his finger, as stated by the ITIA. It turned out, Sinner’s physio had a bandage on his finger on the day Sinner first tested positive for the drug.
Journalist deep dives into Jannik Sinner’s case to declare ITIA’s explanation right
The journalist deep-dived into the Jannik Sinner doping case and looked at pictures from different days. Ben Rothenberg claimed that Giacomo Naldi did not have a bandage on his injured finger throughout the tournament, as stated by the ITIA, and the picture from March 10 that shows Naldi wearing a bandage was an outlier.
It is worth mentioning that ITIA, in its statement on the Sinner doping case, revealed that the Italian’s physio cut his finger on 3 March. Naldi bandaged the cut and unwrapped it two days later. Umberto Ferrara, Sinner’s fitness coach, recommended the physio use a medical spray Ferrara had bought in an Italian pharmacy in February on the cut.
This spray had clostebol as one of its contents which Naldi was unaware of. He then went on to massage Sinner and contaminated him with the drug. Naldi claimed to have applied the spray twice on his finger and that he “cannot remember” washing his hands between spraying his finger and treating Sinner’s feet on the day of testing.
In case you missed!
- Why was information about Jannik Sinner’s positive doping test not made public? ITIA explains
- “Different rules for different players?” Roberto Carballes Baena reacts to Jannik Sinner’s doping row
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Ritesh Pathak
(2150 Articles Published)