'Tainted': Calls for Jannik Sinner to be stripped of 'Aus Open title after ban
Jannik Sinner's three-month doping suspension has divided the tennis world and there are growing calls for the World No.1 to be stripped of his latest grand slam singles title at the Australian Open. The Italian was allowed to compete in the year's first major tournament at Melbourne Park despite having the doping saga hanging over his head. And he beat Alexander Zverev in the final to claim the third grand slam title of his career.
The 23-year-old Sinner twice tested positive for traces of banned substance clostebol in March last year but was initially cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) to continue competing. Sinner successfully argued that he was inadvertently contaminated because his physio had applied a spray containing the steroid to his own finger and then massaged Sinner without gloves on.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the decision and was set to take Sinner to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later this year, before coming to an agreement with the Italian and settling on a three-month ban that will begin immediately. WADA were believed to be pushing for a maximum two-year ban and eyebrows were raised over the weekend when a deal was struck that means he only misses three months.
The timing of the decision continues to raise eyebrows due to the fact Sinner won't miss any grand slams and could be back in time to play at his home tournament - the Italian Open - in May. Not only that, but the 23-year-old was able to compete in - and ultimately win - the Australian Open title this year while the doping saga was still hanging over his head.
Respected Australian sports journalist Jamie Pandaram claims Sinner's Australian Open title was 'tainted' and will always have an 'asterisk' next to it because of the situation. And it's led to calls for Sinner to be stripped of his latest grand slam title, despite WADA indicating that would not be the case.
"I just don't think that if you have any doubts about somebody and they've tested positive that you allow them to compete in a grand slam event because as I say, that result will be tainted," Pandaram said on ABC's Offsiders program. "There's an asterisk over Jannik Sinner's win at the 2025 Australian Open and forever will be because people will believe he entered as a cheat."
Aussie basketball star and dual Olympian Tess Madgen added: "No matter what's in our body, it's our responsibility how it got there... when I was playing basketball I used to worry about buying a protein shake from Boost Juice in case it had an illicit substance in it so to me, I don't believe it.
"I'm kind of pleased that he was found guilty but it doesn't fit. I mean, being sprayed with something on your own body, I find it hard to be found as a trace substance in one test, let alone two days later as another trace sample. So I think there's a bit more going on in this than what's been publicised."
Strongly demand that Sinner be stripped of his Grand Slam title!！！#ATP #tennis #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/8jpEOlaWrq
— Guo Daxia (@guodaxia985211) February 16, 2025
The question now is should sinner be stripped of his AO title ? pic.twitter.com/jwNBQsUlly
— Question (@Philssay) February 15, 2025
Surely Sinner should at least be stripped of his Australian Open Title in January 2025!
— Gary Rowe (@Garonne1972) February 15, 2025
Sinner is a sinner by nature , Should be stripped of his AO title , deserved to ban for 1 yr at least !!!Lost Respect 👎🏻 https://t.co/3MMZp1nXxt
— Kaustubh (@kaustubh_4579) February 15, 2025
The latest backlash comes after the Novak Djokovic-founded Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) joined outspoken stars such as Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka in slamming Sinner's lenient punishment. "The 'system' is not a system. It's a club," th the PTPA said in a statement. "Supposed case-by-case discretion is, in fact, merely cover for tailored deals, unfair treatment, and inconsistent rulings.
"It's not just the different results for different players. It's the lack of transparency. The lack of process. The lack of consistency. The lack of credibility in the alphabet soup of agencies charged with regulating our sports and athletes."
RELATED:
Tennis world blasts 'trash' move after grand slam's $1.6 million change
Massive call made on Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray partnership
Sinner's case is even more divisive when compared to other recent doping violations in the sport such as Simona Halep's. The former World No.1 - who announced her emotional retirement from the sport earlier this year - was initially given a four-year ban that was reduced to nine months after she'd already served two years out of the sport. Halep always maintained her innocence and argued that a contaminated supplement was to blame but the fact of the matter is the Romanian saw two peak years of her career wiped out, in stark contrast to what Sinner is facing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
McLaren boss sends message to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as F1 title race heats up
McLaren team principle Andrea Stella has urged Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to be open and vocal about any concerns stemming from their internal-team battle. The Italian boss of the team is keen to ensure that a potential rivalry between the drivers remains healthy and constructive rather than damaging McLaren's broader ambitions, as the duo vie for the drivers' title. Piastri currently leads his teammate by 10 points at the top of the standings. The call for transparency comes after a recent incident at the Spanish Grand Prix where Piastri described Norris as 'cheeky', after Norris appeared to benefit from a tow provided by his teammate during Q3, leading to surprise and confusion from the Australian driver. However, any irritation that Piastri felt was quickly put to rest when he beat the Brit to pole position. Stella insists that having two competitive drivers fighting at the front is not a problem. He said: 'It [qualifying] was a minor situation. We always tell our drivers, don't leave anything in the back of your mind. Anything, throw it out. Say what you think.' This is not the first time tensions have bubbled between the two, with tactical decisions in Hungary last season also presenting a tricky moment where driver maturity was called into question. Piastri led the majority of laps in Budapest before the second round of pit stops, when Norris took the lead before he was told to 're-establish the order' by the McLaren pit wall. Norris initially refused until, with three laps to go, he relented and allowed Piastri to pass, allowing the Australian to go on and claim his first grand prix victory. Their extra pace this season has been clear, with Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari all trailing the McLarens. Max Verstappen is the nearest rival in the drivers' standings, 49 points behind leader Piastri and 39 from Norris. The season resumes this weekend with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the 10th of 24 rounds, before returning to Europe for races in Austria, Britain, Belgium and Hungary.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Australia to boost aerial surveillance of Pacific for illegal fishing fleets
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia plans to significantly boost surveillance of Pacific Islands territorial waters, spending A$477 million ($310.72 million) on aerial patrols for illegal fishing fleets, tender documents viewed by Reuters show, as China takes steps towards sending its coast guard to the region. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Fiji on Friday, the Fiji Times newspaper reported, after the government of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka last week approved a maritime security agreement that will see Australia fund a patrol boat for Fiji. Australia will operate commercial aerial patrols to support Pacific Island countries monitoring exclusive economic zones which span millions of kilometres of ocean. Efforts to tackle illegal fishing also led to a new monitoring centre being opened in Fiji in April. Australia's defence department declined to comment on the aerial tender, and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported last week that China's coast guard is taking further steps towards high seas boarding of fishing boats in the Pacific for the first time, risking tensions with Taiwanese fleets that also ply the region. The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships, used to enforce maritime law in the Taiwan Strait, to 10 Pacific Island ministers, including Fiji's, in China a fortnight ago. China has registered 26 coast guard vessels for Pacific Ocean patrols with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, although it is yet to conduct an inspection, WCPFC officials said. China declined to comment. Australia has gifted two dozen patrol boats to Pacific Island nations, and operates navy and air force patrols for illegal fishing in the region several times a year. Sangaa Clark, chief executive of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, representing nine Pacific Island countries controlling the world's largest tuna fishery, said the group has not invited China to conduct coast guard patrols, and instead relied on Australian-funded surveillance and patrols by Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States. Pacific security expert Peter Connolly, a fellow at the University of New South Wales, said Chinese Coast Guard patrols in the region would "introduce geostrategic tensions to the policing of the Pacific's fisheries". "This is particularly likely because the two most common nationalities of illegal fishermen in the Pacific have been from the PRC and from Taiwan," he said, referring to the People's Republic of China. ($1 = 1.5352 Australian dollars)
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘That's destiny': Carlos Alcaraz matches mind-blowing Rafael Nadal grand slam stat
Carlos Alcaraz believes the fact he and Spanish idol Rafael Nadal were both exactly the same age when they won their fifth grand slam title is tennis 'destiny'. Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner in one of the greatest ever grand slam finals to win his second French Open, winning the title aged 22 years, one month and three days. Advertisement It is exactly the same age Nadal was when the Spaniard won his fifth grand slam by defeating Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, another of the sport's greatest ever matches. 'Honestly the coincidence of winning my fifth grand slam in the same age as Rafa Nadal, I'm going to say that's destiny, I guess,' Alcaraz said. 'I mean, it is a stat that I'm going to keep for me forever, winning the fifth grand slam at the same time as Rafa, my idol, my inspirations. 'It's a huge honor honestly. You know, hopefully it's not going to stop like this.' Alcaraz's win over Sinner will instantly go into the record book after the Spaniard saved three championship points before winning in five hours and 29 minutes - the longest French Open final of all time. Advertisement But he said that he will leave it up to the public to decide where his win over the World No 1 Sinner would rank among the best matches ever seen when compared to classics like Federer-Nadal and Borg-McEnroe. 'If people put our match in that table, it's a huge honour for me,' Alcaraz said. 'I don't know if it is at the same level as those matches because those matches are know, the history of tennis and the history of the sport. 'I don't know if our match is in the same table as them. But just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the grand slams, in the history of Roland Garros.'
