After Jannik Sinner receives support from Andy Murray's ex-coach, journalist follows suit by blasting "corruption" allegations over doping tests saga
After it came to light that the WADA had appealed Jannik Sinner’s doping case verdict, Andy Murray’s ex-coach, Mark Petchey, took the initiative to silence the controversy by sharing his opinion on the appeal. While he received backlash from haters, tennis journalist Jon Wertheim chimed in to extend his support.
An independent tribunal declared Sinner innocent in August after he tested positive for minimal traces of a banned substance, Clostebol, in March. It was established that his former physiotherapist and fitness coach were responsible for the unintentional contamination, and the tennis player bore "no fault or negligence."
On Thursday, September 26, though, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the verdict. According to the statement released, the WADA did not challenge the contamination itself but questioned the “no fault or negligence” decision and asked for a suspension between one and two years, without any disqualification of results.
Following the announcement, Jannik Sinner, who has been subjected to abuse since August, was targeted yet again by online haters, prompting Andy Murray’s ex-coach Mark Petchey to step in.
Petchey said that there was no “scandal” regarding World No. 1’s case, amid the rising accusations of "cover-up" and "corruption." The claims initially stemmed from the fact that Jannik Sinner’s tests came to light only after a verdict was reached, which, as it turned out, is reportedly the usual practice when the defendant appeals the suspensions successfully.
"Just for the record there is ZERO scandal in the Sinner case. He and his lawyers worked within the framework of what the rules are in the situation he found himself and got a decision based on the evidence presented. No conspiracy, no cover up," Petchey said.
"WADA today have looked at it and decided that they want to appeal the decision based on the “"no fault or negligence" was not correct under the applicable rules. This is how the law works every single day," he added.
Denouncing the backlash faced by the Brit, tennis journalist Jon Wertheim emphasized that the independent tribunal, which ruled in favor of Jannik Sinner, had judged fairly, considering they were unaware of the player's identity.
"Petch is right. “We don’t believe the rules/laws were properly applied” is the basis for most appeals…WADA may prevail. But -especially when some tribunal members didn’t even know the identity of the player- we should ease up on the corruption/conspiracy/coverup allegations," he added.
Besides Mark Petchey and Jon Wertheim, Sinner received support from several other prominent figures in the tennis fraternity, including Boris Becker and arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz.
"I'm very disappointed and also surprised" – Jannik Sinner on WADA's appeal
Despite the taxing ordeal, Jannik Sinner has continued his progress on the court.
Just a day before his positive results were made public, the World No. 1 won his third Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open. He followed it by clinching his second Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Sinner is presently in Beijing to defend his China Open title from last year, where he chases his seventh title of the season. During his post-match press conference after reaching the quarterfinals, the 23-year-old was quizzed about the appeal, to which he responded by saying he was “disappointed and surprised.”
"I'm very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me," Jannik Sinner said.
" Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I'm just surprised that they appealed."
Sinner, who is bidding for a spot in the China Open semifinals, will be in action against Czech Jiri Lehecka on Monday, September 30.