Jannik Sinner “will almost certainly” be banned for doping violations, according to disgraced former Italian player Daniele Bracciali.

World No. 1 Fisherman was initially found to be “without fault or negligence” after twice testing positive for the banned steroid clostebol last March, and received no ban for this sanction.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed in September that it was appealing the initial decision in the 23-year-old’s case.

WADA does not dispute the “no fault” verdict rendered by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), but rather disputes the severity of the sanction.

Sinner’s case has generated a lot of attention and debate in and outside the tennis world, and now another Italian player believes his compatriot will also be punished.

Talk to MowmagFormer world number 49 Daniele Bracciali – who received a lifetime ban for match-fixing in 2018 – defended Sinner, but believed he would face further punishment.

He said: “How will the Sinner affair end? Unfortunately, knowing the environment of WADA and ITIA, I think disqualification will almost certainly happen.

“It is not fair to disqualify a tennis player if it turns out that he did not take performance-enhancing drugs and in the case of the Italian it really did not change anything. Strict liability in this situation is a real scam.

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“He is very strong and he showed it. But there is no doubt that a similar decision would weigh on him, even if we do not know how he could possibly react.

“From a mental point of view, let’s not forget how heavy a sentence like that can be, because Sinner is also human, but perhaps many forget that.

“In his case, it’s even heavier because he knows in his heart that he did nothing wrong. How do you metabolize the fact that strict liability can lead to disqualification? It’s really hard.

Bracciali further doubled down on his defense of the 23-year-old, saying the world number 1 still enjoys wide support in Italy – and saying a ban would be a “dirty trick”.

He added: “I think all Italians have understood who Sinner is, although there will always be some detractors, but the right solution would be acquittal.

“For him, a period with a lot of tension would finally end, even if he manages it almost perfectly.

“From a ranking point of view, however, if disqualification were to happen, it would change little for him, because with a (big) point lead, Jannik can easily stay still for three or four months.

“But it would be an indelible stain on his career, even if we all know he is acting in good faith. Disqualifying him would really be a dirty trick, which unfortunately they have done in other cases.

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