Sex, too many eggs, cocaine, and dodgy beef: ‘Contamination’ is doping’s get out of jail free card

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****, too many eggs, ********, and dodgy beef: ‘Contamination’ is doping’s get out of jail free card

Jannik Sinner’s escape from a drugs ban comes amid an ongoing row over the secret exoneration of 23 ******** swimmers who ******* drugs tests before the Tokyo Olympics – Getty Images/Ian MacNicol

It is the anti-doping equivalent of Monopoly’s Get Out of Jail Free card and

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became the latest athlete to play it and escape a drugs ban.

Contamination has long been the go-to defence for those who test positive for illicit substances, with excuses ranging from the mundane – consumption of food or supplements laced with steroids — to the extraordinary, like through kissing or having ****.

But rarely has it been so successful, or controversial, as it has of late, with the “no fault or negligence” finding against tennis’ world number one male player having come amid the ongoing row over the secret exoneration of 23 ******** swimmers who ******* drugs tests before the Tokyo Olympics.

Those swimmers avoided any action whatsoever, or the glare of public scrutiny, in apparent contravention of anti-doping rules, until details of the case were leaked before this summer’s Paris Games.

But even Sinner got off as lightly as any western athlete found to have a banned steroid in his ******, overturning a provisional suspension imposed on him before it had a meaningful effect and managing to keep the case under wraps until he was all but cleared of wrongdoing.

That was after

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on that case accepted his explanation two ******* tests had been unwittingly

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, and that the level of drugs found in his system had not been performance-enhancing. Indeed, he may feel aggrieved at being forced to pay back the prize money and surrender the ranking points he won from the tournament where this all blew up.

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Jannik Sinner won the Cincinnati Open on Monday, his fifth title of the season – Susan Mullane/USA TODAY Sports

To say Sinner’s excuse for his ******* tests falls into the category of extraordinary defences against an anti-doping rule violation would be an understatement.

That is reflected in the body of evidence, both via documents and witness testimony, he provided in order for it to be accepted both by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and the independent panel judging the case.

Yet, Sinner had to go even further to avoid even a token ban by showing that he had taken all possible precautions to avoid unwitting contamination, whether directly or indirectly through a member of his entourage.

Litany of similar ‘contamination’ cases

One of the cases the panel cited as “similar” to Sinner’s was that of fellow tennis player Richard Gasquet, who escaped a drugs ban almost 15 years ago after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted he tested positive for ******** after kissing a woman who had taken the ***** in a nightclub.

Contamination cases where suspension was not avoided were also cited, although they were limited to those heard by CAS, sport’s highest court, and did not include a near carbon-copy of the Sinner saga.

That saw Italian basketball player Riccardo Moraschini banned for a year three years ago despite successfully arguing his wife, like Sinner’s physio, had used a spray containing the steroid clostebol on a cut finger which she had unwittingly transferred to her husband.

Moraschini was unable to demonstrate “no fault or negligence”, showing just how unusual it is for such a finding to be issued under World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) rules in which those to fail drugs tests are ordinarily held responsible for what is found in their blood or ******.

That includes Tyson Fury, who

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from *** Anti-Doping six years ago after testing positive for nandrolone, despite always maintaining the result had been down to eating uncastrated wild boar.

The outcome of a UKAD investigation into the provisionally-suspended Conor Benn, meanwhile, is still pending after he put a ******* drugs test ahead of his cancelled ****** against Chris Eubank Jr down to having eaten too many eggs.

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Boxer Conor Benn has attributed his ******* drugs test to the consumption of too many eggs

The complexity of contamination cases that can see one athlete banned but another get off virtually scot-free has long tested the ****** in the anti-doping system of those subject to its rules.

The outcome of the Sinner saga is no different, having sparked an ****** backlash from fellow professionals like

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.

Another to hit out was British doubles player Tara Moore, who served a provisional ban spanning 19 months before being cleared of being a drugs cheat in December when a panel

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of a ******* test taken more than a year-and-a-half earlier.

The cases of Sinner and Moore, whose exoneration has been appealed by the ITIA, has highlighted how those who can afford the most expensive lawyers are at a major advantage when it comes to clearing their names as quickly as possible.

Civil war between anti-doping agencies

Trust in the system had already hit an all-time low over the handling of the

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, who were let off after authorities in the country deemed they were most likely the

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.

That was compounded by a decision to keep those findings secret and a ******** by Wada to hold China to account for it, triggering a revolt led by Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the ******* States Anti-Doping Agency who brought down Lance Armstrong.

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China’s Pan Zhanle broke the 100m freestyle world record to win gold at the Paris Games with the largest winning margin in the event since 1928 – Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino

A civil war that shows no sign of abating has seen Wada point out that there had been “several of these cases in the ******* States in the past few months alone, where highly intricate contamination scenarios were accepted”.

They include that of sprinter Erriyon Knighton, who was cleared to compete at Paris 2024 after it was accepted he had eaten meat containing a livestock growth promoter used legally in beef cattle produced in the US.

Knighton went on to finish fourth in the men’s 200 metres, only for the Athletics Integrity Unit to file an appeal against his exoneration with CAS.

Teenaged synchronised swimmer Calista Liu also recently received a no-fault violation after it was accepted her father had been using eye drops containing the banned masking agent dorzolamide, which she absorbed from using his pillows and bedding.

At least she did not need to disclose intimate details of her life to escape a ban, unlike boxer Virginia Fuchs, who back in 2020 was forced to demonstrate a ******* drugs test had been caused by two substances transmitted to her by her boyfriend during ****.

In stark contrast to the fate of the ******** swimmers, the outcome of these cases were all made public.

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#**** #eggs #******** #dodgy #beef #Contamination #dopings #jail #free #card

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