ROME (AP) 鈥 The word 鈥淒OPING鈥 is printed in capital letters inside a red circle with a slash through it on the box containing the over-the-counter spray sold in Italy that caused No. 1-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner to fail two drug tests in March.
Sinner was cleared last month and Friday.
Trofodermin, which contains the banned , is available without a prescription in Sinner鈥檚 home country 鈥 and that's where the 23-year-old's physical trainer bought the medication that led to a trace amount of Clostebol showing up in his test results.
A small can of Trofodermin was purchased for 14.50 euros ($16) at a Rome pharmacy this week by an Associated Press reporter.
The product is meant for treating cuts and scrapes and contains an underlined warning in Italian on the medication guide that comes inside the box: 鈥淔or those taking part in sports: use of the drug without therapeutic needs constitutes doping and can result in positive anti-doping tests."
Giovanni Fontana, an Italian lawyer who represents athletes facing doping charges, has worked on about 100 such cases over 30 years. Ten of his cases resulted from positive tests for Clostebol that were traced to Trofodermin; nine of those resulted in bans, Fontana said in an interview Thursday.
鈥淲hen an athlete tests positive for Clostebol, the first thing I ask them is if they used Trofodermin,鈥 Fontana said. 鈥淎nd if they haven鈥檛, I tell them to go check if a family member or partner has, because it鈥檚 transmitted so easily.鈥
Sinner was not suspended for his positive tests after it was determined the Clostebol entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi. Sinner said his fitness trainer, Umberto Ferrara, purchased Trofodermin in Italy and gave it to Naldi for a cut on Naldi's finger. Naldi then treated Sinner while not wearing gloves.
before the U.S. Open he fired Ferrara and Naldi.
鈥淚n my mind, I know that I haven鈥檛 done anything wrong,鈥 Sinner said. "I always respect these rules 鈥 and I always will respect these rules 鈥 of anti-doping.鈥
Ferrara, who is also a qualified pharmacist, and Naldi had been at Sinner鈥檚 side during his rise, which included his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and .
According to Italian law No. 376 from 2000, all products containing substances on the World Anti-Doping Association's banned list come with the printed 鈥淒OPING鈥 warning.
鈥淏ut with Trofodermin, the mark is only on the box and not the product itself,鈥 Fontana said. 鈥淪o if a family member purchases the drug and throws away the box, there鈥檚 a danger that the warning isn鈥檛 seen.鈥
Fontana, who represented figure skater Carolina Kostner and cyclist Filippo Simeoni 鈥 an early Lance Armstrong accuser 鈥 said Sinner could sue Ferrara and Naldi in Italy.
鈥淚t would be a civil case in which he seeks damages for the impact on his image, for the legal costs, for the anxiousness and stress he had to deal with,鈥 Fontana said.
WADA and Nado Italia, Italy鈥檚 anti-doping agency, could appeal the decision in Sinner鈥檚 case. Nado Italia appealed all of the Clostebol and Trofodermin cases that Fontana worked on, the lawyer said.
Fontana also suggested that Nado Italia could open proceedings against Ferrara and Naldi 鈥 pointing to the four-year suspension for a club doctor at an Italian soccer club in 2018 for administering Trofodermin to a player.
In the United States, Clostebol is listed as a 鈥渃ontrolled substance,鈥 meaning the government considers it to have a potential for abuse, and it can only be sold with a doctor鈥檚 prescription.
Clostebol is listed in the anabolic androgenic steroids section on page 5 of WADA's .
And 鈥淐lostebol鈥 appears four times on the Trofodermin box and can bought by the AP (the product is also available as a cream).
The International Tennis Integrity Agency investigation found that Sinner had a trace amount of Clostebol in his system, a point he illustrated before the U.S. Open began by using eight fingers to count out the number of zeroes before the 鈥1鈥 in the amount, .000000001.
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