Comment|Completely different solutions have been made for cases that look almost identical. Petteri Lindblom, general manager of Suek, says that there is a clear difference in the cases.
Tennis world number one Jannik Sinner failed a doping test twice last spring. The end result: the cart was an accident, so the tennis control body Itia didn’t even issue a notice.
A small amount of clostebol, a weak, synthetic androgenic-anabolic steroid, was found in both of Sinner’s samples. It increases muscle mass and strength.
Sinner’s explanation was that his physical therapist had a wound on his hand, which the massage therapist had treated with a wound care product called Trofoderm. The physiotherapist had treated Sinner with his bare hands.
According to the Finnish Sports Ethics Center (Suek), Trofodermin is a product used in parts of Europe, including Italy. Sinner is Italian.
Let’s jump almost eight years back. Norwegian star skier Therese Johaug your cart in the doping test. Johaug had received ointment for his chapped lips from the ski team’s doctor. The venue was Italy.
Can you guess the name of the ointment Johaug got? Yes, Trofodermin.
Johaug’s explanations were not believed. First, the judgment committee of the Norwegian Central Sports Organization suspended the skier for 13 months, but after the International Ski Federation (Fis) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), the suspension was extended to 18 months.
Johaug’s ban was considered to be pretty much the minimum, but it was in line with the guidelines of the International Anti-Doping Agency (Wada): In Wada’s regulations, there is a category of “no significant error or omission”, which results in a ban of 1–2 years.
For Johaug, the aggravating factor was the fact that the packaging of Trofodermin cream clearly mentions doping. Now the question is, is the same mention in the spray version? Answer: yes it is.
Such is the packaging of Trofoderm spray.
Nearly completely different solutions have been made for seemingly identical cases. Suek’s general counsel Petteri Lindblom says that there is a clear difference in the cases.
“Johaug used the cream himself,” says Lindblom.
Despite this, the acquittal received by Sinner is very exceptional. Lindblom points out that the anti-doping regulations stipulate that an athlete’s ban is not imposed in cases of sabotage, but it does not apply if the athlete’s own doctor or, for example, a massage therapist has given out a prohibited substance without informing the athlete.
“In this case, the athlete did not take it himself, but according to the story, it came from the hands of a physiotherapist. There is thus a small nuance difference here, which can be decisive,” states Lindblom.
Will you stay? this here?
Not necessarily, because Wada or the Italian Anti-Doping Agency can appeal the decision to Cas within three weeks. Lindblom says that Wada analyzes every doping solution, but even Wada does not have an easy task here.
“At stake here is the credibility of the sport and the athlete’s legal protection. What is the athlete obliged to do if the physical therapist has a prohibited substance in his hands”, Lindblom ponders.
A few professional players, among others Nick Kyrgios, Liam Broady and Denis Shapovalov have already stated that the acquittal decision was wrong. It has also been brought up Simona Halep kary, but even that is not directly comparable, as the explanation was a contaminated supplement.
When a boxer Robert Helenius received a two-year ban, he also denied the use of doping, but stated: “There must be some kind of sanction for Käri.”
Sinner’s sanction seems to be the missed fee and atp points from one tennis tournament.
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