Stefano Battaglino ITA, June 17, 1998
The career of Stefano Battaglino suffers an almost final stop: the ITIA, the International Tennis Integrity Agency, has issued a statement sanctioning the disqualification of the Italian tennis player for a period of four years. The decision follows the ruling of an independent court and prevents Battaglino from not only playing but also attending a professional tennis event as a spectator.
Before the ban, the 25-year-old tennis player had reached his top ranking: 670th in singles and 760th in doubles. At the time of the temporary interruption of his activity in February 2023, he was ranked 792nd in singles and 695th in doubles. Since the disqualification applies retroactively from February of the same year, Battaglino will have all accumulated ATP points canceled and will have to wait until February 2027 to potentially return to the field.
The reason for the suspension is the use of Clostebola banned anabolic substance discovered during a doping control at the ITF M15 event in Casablanca in September 2022. Therefore, all points and prize money earned from this date will be revoked.
Despite an October hearing in which Battaglino unsuccessfully attempted to justify the presence of the banned substance in his body, his ingestion was deemed intentional. Clostebol is listed in Section S1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s List of Prohibited Substances, and the lack of evidence of accidental ingestion led to the application of the sanctions usual for similar cases.
Marco Rossi
