“Since when reducing a sentence means innocence?”- Chris Evert comes under fire for declaring Simona Halep “innocent” following a CAS verdict in Romanian’s favor

Chris Evert was targeted for misinterpretation of the CAS verdict.

“Since when reducing a sentence means innocence?”- Chris Evert comes under fire for declaring Simona Halep “innocent” following a CAS verdict in Romanian’s favor

Simona Halep, Chris Evert (Images via Imago)

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep got her four-year ban over doping reduced to nine months as she got the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in her favor. This means that the Romanian ace will be eligible to compete at the highest level again. With the CAS verdict coming out in her favor, not just Halep but her well-wishers also celebrated it.

While Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill welcomed the 32-year-old back on the tour, American tennis great Chris Evert also celebrated Halep’s legal victory. The 69-year-old expressed joy as she got to know that Halep’s ban has been reduced from four years to just nine months.

YouTube video

Evert said that she was happy for Halep and also said that she always believed in the Romanian’s innocence. The former American ace wrote a comment under a post on X that broke the news of Simona Halep getting the CAS ruling in her favor.

FS Video
happy for her! always believed in her innocence!
Chris Evert wrote on X.

Chris Evert criticized for misinterpreting CAS’ verdict for Simona Halep

This post from Chris Evert expressing happiness at Simona Halep getting her ban reduced and declaring the two-time Grand Slam champion innocent gave tennis fans a sense of misinterpretation on Evert’s end.

Chris Evert
Chris Evert (via The Daily Beast)

As soon as the 69-year-old posted on X, reactions started pouring in. Netizens started criticizing the American legend for her statement. Many of them pointed out that Halep’s ban was not completely uplifted but her ban was reduced instead. 

Since when reducing a sentence means innocence?
A user commented on Chris Evert’s post on X.

There were several similar reactions from netizens. Check them out below.

It is worth mentioning that the CAS reduced Halep’s ban to nine months because it concluded that the 32-year-old did not consume the banned substance (roxadustat) on purpose. The irregularities in her blood cells were caused by factors including blood loss during an operation and periods when she was not training. CAS was “not comfortably satisfied” with the evidence produced against Halep and hence the decision.

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