Jannik Sinner's fired physio opens up on doping controversy: 'I hope, sooner or later, I can also tell what happened'
Jannik Sinner fired his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi and athletic trainer Umberto Ferrara at the end August.
Jannik Sinner has been dealing with a doping controversy lately, and his US Open win was also shrouded by it. Ahead of the US Open, it was revealed that he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March, but avoided a ban. His defence was accepted by an independent tribunal that the test results were affected by unintentional contamination.
Sinner fired his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi and athletic trainer Umberto Ferrara at the end August, and the pair were blamed for the wrongful contamination.
Then in the last week of September, WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, stating that that it 'is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years'.
In a press release, the CAS said, “At this time, it is not possible to specify a time frame for the issuance of the decision. The decision of the CAS Panel will be final and binding, with the exception of the right of the parties to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court within 30 days for limited reasons."
Naldi recently opened up on the incident and revealed that he would speak out 'sooner or later'.
Speaking at the presentation of the Open Food Factory project, he said, "I'm fine. I'm sorry like everyone else. I can't say anything else, I just hope, sooner or later, I can also tell what happened to give a general picture, as anyone who has read the sentence knows."
"He wrote to me, he was nice like all the staff. For the rest, I received and read things that weren't nice, but it's part of the game," he added.
Sinner has hired Ulises Badio as his new physiotherapist and Marco Panichi as his new trainer, and they have been with him for several weeks now. He will be hoping the new CAS verdict goes in his favour.