ROMA. “The problem with anti-doping regulations, almost like the Holy Inquisition, is that there is an inversion of the evidential burden. Once you are found positive, you are guilty until proven innocent. The proof must be given from Sinner”. This is the main pitfall that the world number 1 faces before the CAS, according to the lawyer Giovanni Fontana – with long experience in legal issues related to doping – guest of Radio Anch’io Sport (Rai Radio 1) on the Clostebol case and Wada’s request to disqualify the tennis player for one to two years.
“If there is evidence that the use of the drug was done by another person (the physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, ed.) and that Sinner knew nothing and could not have known anything about it, there are good chances of obtaining acquittal also before the CAS” added the lawyer. “The Clostebol problem is recurring in Italy, among other things it is no longer a molecule used for doping purposes, over time it has been discovered that there are better molecules. Most likely 95% of the athletes found positive are not doped – he explained Fontana – but athletes who committed errors and frivolities. The use of doping has greatly decreased in the world, controls have increased and the procedures that WADA has standardized have improved.”
An infinitesimal quantity of Clostebol was found in Sinner’s urine: “The quantity was infinitesimal and the performance improvement is zero. The problem with anti-doping is that an anabolic remains in circulation in the body for months and therefore the use made of the anabolic cannot be established solely on the basis of the quantity”. The lawyer admitted that he remained ” a little surprised” by Wada’s appeal. “I didn’t expect it, from what I read Sinner’s good faith seemed clear. However, Wada can appeal, it does so many times” he concluded.
2024-10-01 17:43:19