I’d argue the bigger issue — regardless of whether Sinner doped intentionally (I don’t think he did either) — is that this shows how little trust fellow ATP/WTA players have in the system. It’s a fact that very few players trust the ITIA anymore.
Adding to that is the fact that Jannik Sinner’s team hired the same lawyer as the one who REPRESENTED the ITIA in a case against WTA Tara Moore (bad look, unsure if anything shady though).
Combine that with the fact that Sinner’s physio is the same physio who was with the Italian pro basketball player who got banned for the same reason, and you get bad looks all round.
Regardless of what happened there needs to be more standards and transparency across the board…I’m of the opinion the ITIA is corrupt in multiple respects (based on what I’ve heard on tour and seen), but this case is more of a trust issue I think.
100%, and it’s not as if ITIA is alone in that respect. WADA can appeal, sure, but who’s the last person you heard trumpeting *their* legitimacy? It’s all very “who watches the watch dogs” and that’s a bad place to be institutionally
Great piece, Michael!
I’d argue the bigger issue — regardless of whether Sinner doped intentionally (I don’t think he did either) — is that this shows how little trust fellow ATP/WTA players have in the system. It’s a fact that very few players trust the ITIA anymore.
Adding to that is the fact that Jannik Sinner’s team hired the same lawyer as the one who REPRESENTED the ITIA in a case against WTA Tara Moore (bad look, unsure if anything shady though).
Combine that with the fact that Sinner’s physio is the same physio who was with the Italian pro basketball player who got banned for the same reason, and you get bad looks all round.
Regardless of what happened there needs to be more standards and transparency across the board…I’m of the opinion the ITIA is corrupt in multiple respects (based on what I’ve heard on tour and seen), but this case is more of a trust issue I think.
100%, and it’s not as if ITIA is alone in that respect. WADA can appeal, sure, but who’s the last person you heard trumpeting *their* legitimacy? It’s all very “who watches the watch dogs” and that’s a bad place to be institutionally