Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni sheds light on Jannik Sinner’s doping ban, says he is against the sanction

Rafael Nadal’s former coach and uncle Toni has opened up on Jannik Sinner’s doping ban. Toni, who is the director of the Mallorca Championships, said he is against the sanction, which the Italian has received.

Sinner recently accepted a three-month ban from WADA after failing two doping tests last year. Trace amounts of Clostebol were found in Sinner’s doping sample. However, Sinner explained that it was due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency had accepted Sinner’s explanation but WADA was seeking to ban the Italian for at least a year.

At the presentation of Mallorca Championships, Toni said, “I’ve already said it many times and explained it, I’m against the sanction. I know Sinner personally and he had no intention of committing a crime and you can’t treat a person like that for a mistake that happened by chance.

“It can’t be that you have that desire to supervise and sanction. You have to sanction someone who intentionally does things wrong and is looking for their own benefit. And I know that’s not the case with Sinner. I know that he didn’t benefit from what they found. So why do you want to sanction him?”

Players like Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Nick Krygios questioned the system and all of them feel that the Italian is lucky to get away with a three-month ban and he could have been given a more strict suspension. Toni took a dig at these players and said some of them are not clean themselves.

The renowned coach said as quoted by MARCA, “It’s true that they say that others who aren’t number 1 were sanctioned because they did wrong before. I’m surprised that different players have positioned themselves against it, even some at the highest level and some who are not very clean.”

After serving his ban, Sinner will be able to take part in the Roland Garros, which will kick off on 25th May.