Tennis star Simona Halep banned for 4 years over doping violations
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Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been banned for four years from tennis for two separate doping violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced Tuesday, as she vowed to “clear my name.”
“The last year has been the hardest match of my life, and unfortunately, my fight continues,” Halep said in a statement. “I have devoted my life to the beautiful game of tennis. I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and take pride in the fact I have never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance. I refuse to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”
In October 2022, Halep, 31, was suspended for 8 months when she tested positive for Roxadustat.
The blood booster was detected in Halep’s urine test at the US Open in August 2022.
Roxadustat is listed on the ITIA’s banned substance list as it “increases hemoglobin and the production of red blood cells” in the body but is commonly used to treat anemia.
Halep, who rose to the WTA’s world-number one ranking in 2017, claimed she changed her nutritional supplements under the advice of her coaching staff and doctors.
“I believe in a clear sport and in almost two decades as a professional tennis player, though hundreds of tournaments and two Grand Slam titles, I have taken 200 blood and urine tests to check for prohibited substances — all of which have been clear until August 29, 2022,” Halep added.
The ITIA found Halep’s second violation to occur when they analyzed 51 of Halep’s blood samples and found “irregularities” in Halep’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), which is used to “monitor selected biological variables over time that indirectly reveal the effects of doping.”
Three experts from the Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) ruled that the irregularities in Halep’s passport were due to “likely doping.”
“The ITIA relied solely on the opinions of these experts who looked only at my blood parameters — which I’ve maintained for more than 10 years in the same range,” Halep alleged.
“This group ignored the fact no prohibited substance has ever been found in my blood or urine samples with the sole exception of one August 29 positive test for Roxadustat, which was present at an extremely low level and which, when considering my negative test three days prior, could only have been caused by accidental exposure to Roxadustat.”
Halep’s suspension will go into effect retroactive to Oct. 7, 2022 before it ends on Oct. 6, 2026.
Halep last played in August 2022, when she suffered an opening-round loss at the US Open.
She had undergone nose surgery following the loss and was automatically withdrawn from this year’s US Open due to the provisional doping suspension.
She plans to appeal the ban and “pursue all legal remedies against the supplement company in question.”
In 2016, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova’s two-year ban over doping was reduced to 15 months.
Patrick Mouratoglou, Halep’s coach, expressed shock over the Romanian’s lengthy ban while he condemned the “unfair” ITIA.
“I am extremely shocked and I have been during this whole year by the methods and the behavior of an organization that is supposed to treat the players fairly and try to establish the truth,” Mouratoglou said. “I know Simona’s integrity and I have no doubt that she has never taken a banned substance.”
“I do not believe that the ITIA looked for the truth in Simona’s case, and I do not believe that they treated her in a way that is acceptable. I hope that the WTA, ATP, and PTPA will do their best to change a system that is destroying careers of innocent players,” he added.
Serena Williams seemingly took a shot at Halep’s ban Tuesday, posting “8 is a better number” on X, formally known as Twitter.
Halep defeated Williams at Wimbledon in 2019, which prevented the latter from securing her eighth title at the All-England Club.
Canadian tennis player Genie Bouchard joined Williams’ subtle dig with one of her own.
“I was told not to tweet today,” Bouchard, an outspoken critic about doping in tennis, said alongside a closed-mouthed emoji hours after the ban.
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