The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a four-year ban on Italian tennis player Stefano Battaglino for using clostebol. News that until recently would have gone largely unnoticed in the sporting community. Yet Battaglino is a very little-known player: he was ranked 760th at the most in the ATP rankings and at the time of his suspension he was the number 780 player in the world.
What makes Stefano’s case interesting? About a month ago it became known that the same clostebol was found on the body of world number one Jannik Sinner. And in very similar circumstances. And there was no talk of a four-year ban. Sinner completely avoided suspension (a few days in April during the out-of-competition period do not count) and only got away with points and prize money deductions for reaching the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters. Why are the attitudes towards Sinner and Battaglino different?
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Some details about Stefano Battaglino’s case. On September 14, 2022, at a tournament in Casablanca, he tested positive for clostebol. On February 1, 2023, after the “B” sample confirmed the result of the “A” sample, Battaglino was suspended. The athlete’s version is as follows: on September 14, during the second set of the match against Diego Augusto Barreto Sánchez, he requested a time-out for medical reasons and went to a masseur provided by the organizers, who massaged the problematic area with a little cream. Stefano stated that this is precisely the reason why clostebol entered his body, namely through the hands of a masseur.
The problem was that the masseur was local. A player ranked 800th in the ATP rankings does not have the opportunity to bring a personal specialist to tournaments. The organizers provided contact information for the masseur, but Battaglino was unable to contact him. Stefano was unable to convincingly prove how exactly the doping got into his body. On October 30, 2023, Battaglino was disqualified in the first instance (Sports Resolutions) for four full years. An appeal to the CAS yielded no results. On September 17, 2024, he was finally suspended for the stated period without the right to further appeal.
Stefano Battaglino
Photo: From the personal archive of Stefano Battaglino
Battaglino’s final disqualification came after the doping scandal with Sinner. Moreover, the affairs of both were handled by one organisation – the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in a press release. In this regard, a serious discussion arose in the Italian media about why the anti-doping authorities treated Stefano and Yannick differently. One received a severe punishment and will not be able to play tennis until 1 February 2027, the other got off with a slight scare and continues to participate and win major ATP tournaments.
In fact, the situations of Battaglino and Sinner are similar in many ways. Clostebol allegedly entered their body after a massage. But the difference is that Sinner had a personal masseur. This helped to quickly carry out the investigation. An important role was played by the fact that Yannick could afford the best lawyers. Battaglino does not have such resources. A strange doctor gave him a massage, and Stefano simply cannot hire cool lawyers due to lack of much money.
Jannik sinner
Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Recently, Russia’s number one racket player Daria Kasatkina spoke out about Sinner’s doping case. She also mentioned other Italian tennis players who had encountered closteball. We are probably talking about Matilda Paoletti and Mariano Tammaro, who were caught using this drug in 2021. Kasatkina is generally surprised that it is in Italy that there are constant problems with this banned substance, not only in tennis (from 2019 to 2023, 38 Italian athletes tested positive for closteball – half of all cases in the world).
“I think Sinner is innocent. Double standards? Yannick has the ability to hire the best lawyers, people who will sort everything out, and that is certainly his advantage. My coach is Italian, he knows some other stories that we don’t know. There were two more Italian players, a girl and a boy, who were caught with this drug in exactly the same way. The girl couldn’t appeal because she didn’t know where she got this drug from. I don’t really remember the names, I don’t know these guys. And the guy knew about it, apparently, he also told him immediately within 24 days why and how, and he also continued to play. I mean, it was the same similar case. Another thing is that I don’t understand why in Italy they are caught doing this like that. But I don’t know that anymore.
However, I think that this could really have happened, because being caught like that… well, what does that mean? Have I talked to Yannick about this? No, we are not that close to them. We know him, but of course not enough for me to come and start asking about it. They are making a lot of noise with this doping… The guys missed the test three times and are disqualified for several years. That’s how hard it is. And here are people saying: “How can you miss a test three times in three years?” Look how much we travel. We have training all the time at different times. We change hotels, time zones. And we also have to be aware of what gap we have,” Kasatkina said in an interview with TNNS.
Darya Kasatkina
Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Kasatkina’s words are being widely circulated in the Italian media after the final verdict in the Battaglino case. Corriere della Serra, Il Gazzettino and others are wondering why the punishment is different. Whatever the case, nothing can be changed. Stefano, 26, will not be able to play tennis for another two and a half years. He should probably try himself in some other activity, as even before the disqualification he was not particularly brilliant on the court.
Sinner remains world number one. After discovering tennis, he won the Miami Masters and Indian Wells, the Halle 500, and the second Grand Slam of his career at the 2024 US Open. Of course, the doping scandal “tarnished” his reputation. I have to listen to the criticism from fans and some colleagues.
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But on a global level, nothing critical happened to Yannick. Just a day ago, he was appointed ambassador for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Immediately afterward, Sinner took part in Fashion Week in the same city.
Jannik Sinner with Anna Wintour and Kirsten Dunst at Milan Fashion Week
Photo: Fake Images
Yannick is the official ambassador of the Gucci brand. At the event, he was photographed with the editor-in-chief of Vogue fashion magazine Anna Wintour, the famous American actress Kirsten Dunst and other celebrities. There is no talk of any “cancellation” of Sinner.
Milan Fashion Week lasts more than one day, as the name suggests. According to Tutto Sport, Sinner could appear on the red carpet again together with his girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya.
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Yannick has largely forgotten about the doping scandal. The physical trainer and physiotherapist, through whom clostebol entered his body, was fired and replaced by specialists who had previously worked with Novak Djokovic.
On the court, Sinner does not feel limited and plays with confidence, as before. Gucci and other sponsors did not escape him. The position of Olympic Ambassador will help in terms of reputation. Yes, the doping scandal will still be remembered, but the volume of critics’ voices will noticeably decrease over time and eventually disappear altogether.
