Mouratoglou on Sinner story: “There is a double standard”

The story of Jannik Sinner‘s two failed doping tests back in March shocked the tennis world when it was disclosed earlier this week, with an independent tribunal finding that the Italian bared no fault or negligence for minimal levels of the banned steroid clostebol.

Patrick Mouratoglou, in a Linkedin post made today, made clear that, whilst Sinner may have never intended to consume the banned substance, not all players are treated equally for almost identical cases:

“I was extremely shocked. After what Simona Halep had to suffer, how could it go so differently? I am not going to say that he’s guilty of anything. Obviously not. The fact that needs highlighting is that there is a double standard – that two players in the same situation are treated oppositely – and this is wrong. The rules should apply to everyone. For one player, who tested positive at more than a minimal rate of the substance, the ITIA decided to put it all over the press and make it public. For another player, they kept it secret. Why? It makes absolutely no sense.”

For one player, who tested positive at more than a minimal rate of the substance, the ITIA decided to put it all over the press and make it public. For another player, they kept it secret. Why? It makes absolutely no sense.

Mouratoglou on the ITIA’s handling of failed doping tests

Mouratoglou emphasized the inconsistency between how Sinner’s case was not announced for over 5 months, yet Simona Halep, who the Frenchman coached, failed a doping test in September 2022 for roxadustat and was confirmed to have been provisionally suspended just a month later:

“It’s NOT a tribunal. Technically, it’s just a private company hired by the ITIA. The real tribunal is the CAS, the one that Simona Halep went to, the one that found that she was not guilty after a real investigation and a real exchange of views. What they have called the tribunal here is just basically them and themselves, making the test, taking decisions on the player (suspension or not) and then concluding with the pieces they have within themselves. In the end, they basically suspended him and lifted the suspension within a few days of each other. Simona was provisionally suspended, denied an appeal for months, then suspended again, and finally she could go to the CAS to be claimed innocent. All out in public since the beginning.”

Simona was provisionally suspended, denied an appeal for months, then suspended again, and finally she could go to the CAS to be claimed innocent. All out in public since the beginning

Mouratoglou on the differences in treatment between Halep and Sinner

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