The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced its verdict in the case of the former world number 1 Simona Halepone of the great tennis players of the last decade who has been temporarily suspended since his participation last year in the US Open.
The Romanian player received a harsh four-year ban for two separate doping charges, until October 2026, a long break that will greatly complicate the final phase of Halep’s career, 31, who has announced she will appeal against it. decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (TAS).
A positive for roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, an anti-anemia drug banned because it is a blood stimulant, and irregularities in her biological passport were the two anti-doping code violations that led the ITIA to suspend Halep , won 24 titles of WTAtwo Grand Slams theirs, Roland Garros’2018 and Wimbledon’2019.
Simona played in three more Grand Slam finals, two more in the Paris (2014, 2017) and another in Australian Open (2019). He US Open He is the only ‘great’ in which he did not reach the decisive match: his best result was the 2015 semi-finals. Halep also played in the final of 2014 Mastersbut Serena Williams the title of ‘teacher’ was taken away from him.
The Romanian tennis player denied from the first moment that he deliberately took this banned substance and said that roxadustat may have entered his body due to an authorized supplement that was contaminated.
“The court accepted Halep’s argument that she took a contaminated supplement, but determined that the amount ingested by the player could not give the result of the concentration of roxadustat found in the positive sample,” ITIA explained.
The ITIA also confirmed that three independent experts were unanimous in observing that Halep’s probable doping was the explanation for the irregularities in her biological passport. From the Russian case Maria Sharapovasuspended for 15 months for a positive meldonium test in 2016, no top tennis player has ever been sanctioned for doping.
Halep has already announced that she will appeal against the penalty imposed on her by the ITIA. “I refuse to accept this decision of a four-year suspension. I will continue training and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false accusations and get back on track,” Halep said in a statement to the agency Reuters.
“I intend to appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and pursue all legal remedies against the supplement company in question,” added the Romanian.
When the case broke, Simona Halep had already declared her innocence and was expected to fight to the end to prove it. “Throughout my career, the idea of cheating never crossed my mind even once, because it completely contradicted all the values in which I was raised. Faced with an unfair situation, “I was completely confused and betrayed ,” he said then.
“I will fight to the end to prove my innocence and soon the whole truth will be known. It is not a question of titles or money, it is a question of honor and a love relationship with tennis that I have. developed over 25 years. years,” added the former world No. 1.
Source: La Verdad
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