Simona Halep received a four-year tennis ban for doping violations
Former Wimbledon champion and world number 1, Simona Halep, has been banned for four years for two doping offences.
The Romanian, who triumphed at the All England Club in 2019, has been provisionally suspended since last October after testing positive for the blood-boosting drug roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.
She was subsequently charged with irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) and both charges were upheld by an independent court.
Halep, who has taken to social media several times over the past year to express his dissatisfaction with the length of the trial, testified at the tribunal in London on June 28 and 29.
She argued that roxadustat entered her body through a contaminated dietary supplement. While the court accepted that she had ingested such a substance, it “found that the amount the player ingested could not have resulted in the level of roxadustat found in the positive sample.”
The Athlete Biological Passport program collects various blood parameters over time to identify any discrepancies in the data that could indicate a possible doping offense.
The charge was also upheld and the court ruled: “There was no reason to doubt the unanimous ‘strong opinion’ of all three independent experts from the Athlete Passport Management Unit that ‘probable doping’ was the explanation for the irregularities in Halep’s profile .” “
The 31-year-old, who also won the French Open in 2018 and is the highest-profile tennis player to fail a doping test since Maria Sharapova in 2016, quickly issued a statement confirming she would appeal.
“Today a tribunal under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program announced a preliminary decision in my case,” Halep said.
“Last year was the hardest game of my life and unfortunately my fight continues. I have dedicated my life to the beautiful game of tennis.”
“I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and am proud that I have never knowingly or intentionally consumed a banned substance. I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”
“While I am grateful to finally have an outcome after numerous unwarranted delays and feeling like I have been living in purgatory for over a year, I am both shocked and disappointed by their decision.”
“I intend to appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and pursue all legal remedies against the dietary supplement company in question.”
Halep again criticized the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees the sport’s anti-doping program, saying: “The ITIA brought charges against ABP only after its expert group learned my identity, which led to two of three suddenly changed their minds in favor of the ITIA.” allegations.
“The ITIA relied solely on the opinions of these experts, who only looked at my blood parameters – which I have maintained in the same range for more than 10 years.”
“This group ignored the fact that no banned substance was ever found in my blood or urine samples, with the sole exception of a positive roxadustat test on March 29. So far, only accidental exposure to roxadustat could have been caused.
“I continue to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false accusations and return to court.”
If her appeal is unsuccessful, Halep will not be eligible again until October 7, 2026, when she turns 35.
ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse defended the handling of the case, saying: “After a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision.”
“The volume of evidence that the court had to consider in both the Roxadustat and ABP cases was significant.
“The ITIA has followed due processes as we would with any other person – in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code – and fulfilled our aim and responsibility to uphold the principle of fair competition in the name of sport .”
“The panel recognized that due process was followed in the written decision.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/tennis/simona-halep-four-year-ban-doping-offences-b1106550.html Simona Halep received a four-year tennis ban for doping violations
