2023-09-12 17:58:51
– Former world No. 1 Simona Halep suspended 4 years for doping
The Romanian received a 4-year suspension for two violations of anti-doping regulations. She announced her intention to appeal.
Published today at 7:58 p.m.
Simona Halep last appeared in competition at the 2022 US Open.
Getty
Simona Halep, former world No. 1 and double Grand Slam winner, has been suspended for 4 years for two violations of anti-doping regulations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Romanian had already been provisionally suspended since October 2022. Her four years of suspension thus run until October 6, 2026, specifies the ITIA. In the evening, the main interested party announced her intention to appeal.
The first offense found by the independent court concerns the presence of roxadustat, a molecule which stimulates the production of red blood cells, classified among EPOs in the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in an anti-doping control carried out at the US Open 2022; the second relates to irregularities in Halep’s biological passport, explains the independent body responsible for anti-doping in tennis.
“They are killing my reputation”
“I intend to appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” Halep reacted shortly after the announcement of his sanction. “I continue to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false accusations and return to the court,” she said again. As since the very beginning of the affair, Halep continues to proclaim his innocence. “I have never taken any prohibited product intentionally,” she repeats. “I refuse to accept the 4-year suspension,” she insists, “in shock” of the decision and believing that she has provided “irrefutable proof” of her good faith.
“They are killing not only my reputation, but also my career,” the Romanian reacted in May, shortly after the ITIA announced the second case targeting her, given the length of the procedure. The winner of Roland-Garros in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019 explained that she was “living the worst nightmare” of her existence and denounced a form of “harassment” on the part of the ITIA, which she accused of seeking to “prove that I am guilty of something I never did.”
Last match a year ago
Simona Halep has not played competitively since her elimination in the first round of the 2022 US Open, a little over a year ago. She then ended her season in mid-September, after a nose operation, to resolve a respiratory problem in particular, before being temporarily suspended.
Halep is the first leading player caught in the anti-doping net since the resounding suspension of Maria Sharapova in 2016. Testing positive for meldonium, the Russian star ultimately received a 15-month suspension.
AFP
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