Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, will be stripped of his prize money and points earned at this year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after testing positive twice for steroids.

The Italian tennis star will not be suspended. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined that the banned performance-enhancer Clostebol entered Sinner’s system unintentionally.

Sinner was notified in April of the positive test, which has just become public with an independent tribunal clearing Sinner of any wrongdoing.

Sinner, 23, posted the tribunal’s response on the social media platform X on Tuesday.

As a result of the positive test, Sinner will lose the $325,000 in prize money and 400 ranking points he earned as a semifinalist at the tournament. Sinner lost in the semifinals to Carlos Alcaraz in three sets.

“I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me,” Sinner said in a statement on social media. “I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA’s anti-doping (program) and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance.”

The samples the Italian submitted at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells on March 10 and March 18 contained low levels of the prohibited substance clostebol, violating anti-doping rules, according to an independent tribunal appointed by Sport Resolutions.

https://l.smartnews.com/p-tp4d6/3SULbN

I don't dislike sinner, but the scenario is ridiculous and other players--many of whom have posted comments on social media--have had to sit out months or even years for similar issues. Maybe even worse is that he had a brief "shadow" suspension that was never announced, so the ITA was effectively lying by omission to the public (he even had a press conference before Madrid as if he'd be playing even though that coincided with his "shadow" suspension).