Disgraced Italian player Daniele Bracciali believes that the
current world number one
Jannik Sinner will receive a ban in the doping
scandal. The 23-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the best players
currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category along with the likes
of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
Sinner tested positive for a banned substance on two occasions
in doping tests but narrowly managed to escape a ban. The International Tennis
Integrity Agency (ITIA), in a detailed statement, revealed that they accepted
the player’s counsel’s response where they claimed that the availability of the
banned substance in the player’s sample was because of receiving cream from one
member of the coaching staff.
Sinner’s problem did not end there as the World Anti-Doping
Agency (WADA) announced recently that they had lodged an appeal against the
verdict in the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS).
Disgraced Italian player Bracciali,
who was handed a life ban for match-fixing in 2018, was recently quoted in a
report by Tennis 365 where he stated that in his opinion, there is no chance
for Sinner to escape a ban.
“How will the Sinner case end? Unfortunately, knowing the
environment of WADA and ITIA, I believe that a disqualification will almost
certainly arrive,” he said. “It is not right to disqualify a tennis player if
it is found that he has not taken drugs to improve performance and in the case
of the Italian it really has not changed anything. Objective responsibility in
this situation is a real scam. He is very strong and he has shown it. But there
is no doubt that a similar decision would weigh on him, even if we do not know
how he could eventually react. From a mental point of view, let’s not forget
how heavy a sentence like that can be, because Sinner is also human, but
perhaps many forget this.”