It is the anti-doping equivalent of Monopoly’s Get Out of Jail Free card and Jannik Sinner became the latest athlete to play it and escape a drugs ban.
Contamination has long been the go-to defence for those who test positive for illicit substances, with excuses ranging from the mundane – consumption of food or supplements laced with steroids — to the extraordinary, like through kissing or having sex.
But rarely has it been so successful, or controversial, as it has of late, with the “no fault or negligence” finding against tennis’ world number one male player having come amid the ongoing row over the secret exoneration of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed drugs tests before the Tokyo Olympics.
Those swimmers avoided any action whatsoever, or the glare of public scrutiny, in apparent contravention of anti-doping rules, until details of the case were leaked before this summer’s Paris Games.
But even Sinner got off as lightly as any western athlete found to have a banned steroid in his urine, overturning a provisional suspension imposed on him before it had a meaningful effect and managing to keep the case under wraps until he was all but cleared of wrongdoing.
That was after those sitting in judgment on that case accepted his explanation two failed tests had been unwittingly caused by massages given by his physiotherapist, and that the level of drugs found in his system had not been performance-enhancing. Indeed, he may feel aggrieved at being forced to pay back the prize money and surrender the ranking points he won from the tournament where this all blew up.
To say Sinner’s excuse for his failed tests falls into the category of extraordinary defences against an anti-doping rule violation would be an understatement.
That is reflected in the body of evidence, both via documents and witness testimony, he provided in order for it to be accepted both by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and the independent panel judging the case.
Yet, Sinner had to go even further to avoid even a token ban by showing that he had taken all possible precautions to avoid unwitting contamination, whether directly or indirectly through a member of his entourage.
Litany of similar ‘contamination’ cases
One of the cases the panel cited as “similar” to Sinner’s was that of fellow tennis player Richard Gasquet, who escaped a drugs ban almost 15 years ago after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted he tested positive for cocaine after kissing a woman who had taken the drug in a nightclub.
Contamination cases where suspension was not avoided were also cited, although they were limited to those heard by CAS, sport’s highest court, and did not include a near carbon-copy of the Sinner saga.
That saw Italian basketball player Riccardo Moraschini banned for a year three years ago despite successfully arguing his wife, like Sinner’s physio, had used a spray containing the steroid clostebol on a cut finger which she had unwittingly transferred to her husband.
Moraschini was unable to demonstrate “no fault or negligence”, showing just how unusual it is for such a finding to be issued under World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) rules in which those to fail drugs tests are ordinarily held responsible for what is found in their blood or urine.
That includes Tyson Fury, who accepted a backdated two-year ban from UK Anti-Doping six years ago after testing positive for nandrolone, despite always maintaining the result had been down to eating uncastrated wild boar.
The outcome of a UKAD investigation into the provisionally-suspended Conor Benn, meanwhile, is still pending after he put a failed drugs test ahead of his cancelled fight against Chris Eubank Jr down to having eaten too many eggs.
The complexity of contamination cases that can see one athlete banned but another get off virtually scot-free has long tested the faith in the anti-doping system of those subject to its rules.
The outcome of the Sinner saga is no different, having sparked an angry backlash from fellow professionals like Nick Kyrgios, who branded it “ridiculous”.
Another to hit out was British doubles player Tara Moore, who served a provisional ban spanning 19 months before being cleared of being a drugs cheat in December when a panel ruled contaminated meat was the source of a failed test taken more than a year-and-a-half earlier.
The cases of Sinner and Moore, whose exoneration has been appealed by the ITIA, has highlighted how those who can afford the most expensive lawyers are at a major advantage when it comes to clearing their names as quickly as possible.
Civil war between anti-doping agencies
Trust in the system had already hit an all-time low over the handling of the failed drugs tests by the 23 Chinese swimmers, who were let off after authorities in the country deemed they were most likely the victims of tainted hamburgers.
That was compounded by a decision to keep those findings secret and a failure by Wada to hold China to account for it, triggering a revolt led by Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency who brought down Lance Armstrong.
A civil war that shows no sign of abating has seen Wada point out that there had been “several of these cases in the United States in the past few months alone, where highly intricate contamination scenarios were accepted”.
They include that of sprinter Erriyon Knighton, who was cleared to compete at Paris 2024 after it was accepted he had eaten meat containing a livestock growth promoter used legally in beef cattle produced in the US.
Knighton went on to finish fourth in the men’s 200 metres, only for the Athletics Integrity Unit to file an appeal against his exoneration with CAS.
Teenaged synchronised swimmer Calista Liu also recently received a no-fault violation after it was accepted her father had been using eye drops containing the banned masking agent dorzolamide, which she absorbed from using his pillows and bedding.
At least she did not need to disclose intimate details of her life to escape a ban, unlike boxer Virginia Fuchs, who back in 2020 was forced to demonstrate a failed drugs test had been caused by two substances transmitted to her by her boyfriend during sex.
In stark contrast to the fate of the Chinese swimmers, the outcome of these cases were all made public.
Source Agencies
