“It’s too difficult to go through this,” Simona Halep expresses what changes need to be incorporated into the anti-doping policies and their enforcement
Halep also doubled down on her belief that Maria Sharapova's case is vastly different from her own.
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Simona Halep (Via Imago)
Earlier this week, Simona Halep announced that she would be taking a break from tennis after a knee injury put the brakes on her comeback. She was banned from competing on the circuit in October 2022 due to two violations of two anti-doping policies.
The Romanian returned to the tour in March this year after her ban was lifted early owing to her appeals and additional reviews. However, she was faced with immediate setbacks as a first-time knee issue forced her to withdraw from tournaments again.
Following the unfortunate events, Halep decided to take a break from competing until she has fully recovered. In a recent interview, she was asked about what changes she would like to see in the system that would save players from getting unjustly banned for extended periods in the future.
I can’t say what they need to change. It’s not my business because I’m not a professional in this field. I’ve been against doping all my life. I was very vocal, and it came back to me. A lot of people judged me because I talked about Sharapova in the past. This is a different case. It’s not the same thing. People need to understand that.Simona Halep said to We Are Tennis
She emphasized that players should be given an opportunity to fight against such decisions, especially if they have consumed prohibited substances without their knowledge, which was what had happened to her.
But whatever it is, the authorities need to do something to give the players a chance to solve the problem, and if there is no intention, it’s too difficult to go through this.Simona Halep added
Halep also spoke about the criticism she received for portraying Maria Sharapova in a bad light after the latter suffered a similar ban with eventually accelerated her retirement. Halep sees no similarities between the cases as she believes the context and circumstances were different. It remains to be seen if the 32-year-old will face the same fate as an indefinite hiatus raises questions about her potential retirement as well.
Details about Simona Halep’s 4-year ban that was lifted after less than two years
On October 7th, 2022, Halep tested positive for Roxadustat, a banned substance, at the US Open. She claimed that the substance may have been introduced into her system through nutritional supplements and strongly denied intentional consumption of it.
Halep was then charged again for irregular results in her Athlete Biological Passport, which is a record of a series of continuous and regular blood tests. After trials for almost a year, she was handed a 4-year ban in September 2023, a decision she did not agree with.
She stood her ground and appealed the court’s judgment, which forced the Court of Arbitration for Sport to review her case again. This led to the decision that a nine-month ban (from October 2022, since when she was not allowed to compete) was the just punishment for her offenses. As she had already served the time, Halep was free to return to tour immediately in March this year, which she did.
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