Stefano Battaglino experienced a similar situation to Sinner, testing positive for Clostebol. The tennis player was disqualified for 4 years because his reconstruction of the facts was not “accepted” by the TAS.
Stephen Battaglino can’t find peace. This 26-year-old Italian tennis player, who has a best ranking of number 760 in the world, had been found Clostebol positive during a tournament in Morocco played in 2022, just like Jannik Sinner. Unlike what happened to the world number one, Battaglino was disqualified for 4 years, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (Itia). What is behind this unequal treatment? It is actually very simple, Sinner with the help of his lawyers he managed to demonstrate in every little detail the reasons that led to the involuntary contamination, and therefore for him it was ascertained that there was no “fault or negligence”.
The bitterness of Battaglino disqualified for Clostebol
It was not the same for Battaglino, who returned to the matter in an interview with Corriere.it. Great bitterness for the tennis player who first declared: “The drug is the same, as the quantity was reduced: to one nothing, to me 4 years. Let’s make one thing clear: I’m happy for Sinner, to whom I wish all the success in the world; but for me I’m really disappointed, very much. As far as sport is concerned, I’m a plague victim”.
Why Battaglino was disqualified, the differences from the Sinner case
He too, like Jannik Sinner he was “framed” by a massage from a physiotherapistthis time during a match in the Casablanca tournament. A bare-handed intervention to try to solve a calf problem. Battaglino tested positive for Clostebol after the competition, he too in absolutely negligible qualities. Despite the reconstruction of the contamination, however, Stefano was unable to exploit the testimony of the masseur involved. So here it is The TAS considered his arguments unsatisfactory at the hearing to prove that the violation was accidental.
Sinner, no WADA appeal for Clostebol case: the game is not over, but there is optimism
In the Sinner case, everything was considered credible also because documents and testimonies were brought to support his thesis. The independent court exonerated the Italian player, with the international anti-doping agency that could still appeal the case. In the meantime, Jannik has decided to end his working relationship with Naldi and Ferrara, physiotherapist and agent, effectively paying only the objective responsibility for their behavior.
Enormous bitterness therefore for Battaglino who found himself facing a wall: “Having said that I have never taken anything, not even supplements, I fear that the judges live in a beautiful world, made up of the US Open and Wimbledon, but that they have not the slightest idea of the other levels, from number 250 on down.“. Adding insult to injury, Battaglino only tracked down the physiotherapist some time later, with the professional limiting himself to saying that he “always wears gloves and washes his hands.”
Battaglino’s career and life turned upside down by disqualification
In short, his career and consequently his life, have changed drastically with Battaglino who today has put tennis aside to work in the family business. Today he tries to think of the glass half full, looking back and trying to think of the less pleasant and stressful aspects of life as a tennis player. In the end, however, that stain of being considered a “doper” weighs heavily: “Knowing that someone thinks I’m a “doper”, that is, that I took substances to cheat: it’s not like that, I’ve never done it. And instead, those who don’t know me, maybe just read the title and make judgments. But when I tell the whole story, everyone tells me it’s crazy”.
Source: www.fanpage.it
