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Those who dope accuse Sinner

Those who dope accuse Sinner

The oddities of the Sinner case that are not a coincidence. Guiglia's notebook

There is not a single inhabitant of the globe willing to believe that Jannik Sinner, the greatest tennis player of our time , slathers himself on prohibited sports substances at night to beat his opponents during the day. The boy would be doped and also stupid, because the cream that he would spread on his body in great secrecy in the small hours, was discovered in such infinitesimal doses, that it would not even have been useful to raise the middle finger of the right hand (a practice, moreover, which he should learn to practice at least towards his envious colleagues; but we are certain that ours, also a monument of education, will not do so).

What has already proven beyond any reasonable doubt to an international and independent tribunal, even thanks to television images that support the definitive clarification, is not enough for a fish called Wada.

Because the imprudent decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency to appeal to the Tas – Court of Arbitration for Sport – in Lausanne against the evidence of nothing can only be associated with an April Fool's joke. That nothing, moreover, which has already cost the innocent Sinner the reduction of points and prizes, an unfair toll paid to the formal recognition of his non-involvement by the accusation. He was acquitted, for anyone who's forgotten.

As the stones also know, it was thanks to the glovesless massages of his then physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who had – yes – treated a wound on his finger with Trofodermin, a non-admitted drug, if they then found minimal and irrelevant traces in Jannik of metabolized Clostebol in the body.

There is no question about the light-heartedness of the bona fide physiotherapist, a physiotherapist who is also an appreciated and valuable professional. He doesn't even discuss his victim, Sinner, who gave him the sack. Another demonstration of clean hands and minds: if the two had plotted in the shadows, they would be accomplices. And you don't send an accomplice away, under penalty of the risk of him speaking and telling the truth to get revenge for the farewell.

But there are no occult truths to tell here. Here there is only the misfortune of having unconsciously absorbed, and not at his request nor by the will of others, a substance that cannot be done. A clear mistake, but not caused by him.

“Finding of absence of guilt”, the court in fact ruled.

Now the fish named Wada disputes the "finding of absence of fault or negligence" and is appealing to the CAS against that international tribunal. Unheard of: it's the first time this has happened in the history of sports. The appellants ask to stop the reprobate for 1 or 2 years. But already specifying that, in the event of disqualification, they will no longer take away anything from him that he will have achieved in the meantime.

Singular attitude which in politics would be defined as Christian Democrat: on the one hand I suspect your cheating, on the other hand I already put my hands forward and tell you that in any case I will not take away the loot obtained as a cheat under trial. We're about to punish him, but not too much. We are demagogically showing that the "law is the same for everyone" (but what law, and who are those "everyone" who would have found themselves, if they could demonstrate it, in the identical and innocent condition of Jannik?), however with the institutional conscience okay, that is, not to the point of questioning what the boy will have sweated on the pitch. Carrot and stick: but this means engaging in politics, not searching for an already established truth. Today it means showing off a pseudo-inflexibility in the style of "we don't look at anyone", after the heavy accusations of the past of not having intervened against many scandalous cases of athletes to be sanctioned.

We are at the "break point" of sporting justice, and tennis lovers will understand the metaphor. How to chase the champion of champions – is this the unspeakable fault? -, with a quibbled interpretation on a circumstance as clear as sunlight. An interpretation by Azzeccagarbugli, aimed at attacking a non-existent responsibility, as already sanctioned by an international and independent tribunal, and above all by the naked and raw reality of the facts. Incontrovertible and documented facts: why, then, continue to pull the string, or rather, the net of this incredible match?

He, the endless accused (it will take months before the dispute is closed), says he is "surprised and disappointed".

We, however, who have no obligations of formal courtesy towards the fish named Wada, prefer to use just one word, hoping that it conveys the idea well: shame.

Published in the Alto Adige newspaper
www.federicoguiglia.com


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/jannik-sinner-accuse-doping/ on Sat, 05 Oct 2024 04:25:15 +0000.