2024-03-05 18:06:10
Lausanne (AFP)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the ban imposed on Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, due to two violations of anti-doping regulations, from four years to the nine months she had already served, and she is now able to return to the court.
The 32-year-old was suspended last September by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, following two separate cases related to doping.
The two-time major championship holder appealed the punishment to the CAS Court in February, claiming that the positive test was the result of “contaminated nutritional supplements,” and that the defects in her biological passport were the result of surgery she underwent.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said, “The CAS body decided unanimously that the four-year period of ineligibility imposed by the independent court at the International Tennis Integrity Agency will be reduced to a nine-month period of ineligibility beginning on October 7, 2022, and ending on July 6, 2023.”
Halep’s career has been suspended since October 7, 2022, the date of the first initial penalty issued once morest her following a positive test for Rocadostat during the US Open.
Roxadustat is a substance that can be used legally to treat anemia, but it is also on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list, as it is considered a blood stimulant, and works to increase hemoglobin and red blood cell production.
The biological passport allows the athlete to monitor blood changes in the long term and to identify possible violations of anti-doping rules.
On the other hand, Halep insisted on her innocence, and refused to accept the decision of the International Federation of Association Football, which prevented her from practicing sports professionally until October 6, 2026.
The champion of Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019 stressed that she wanted to “clear her name,” and believed that experts discovered that she had mistakenly taken a contaminated supplement.
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