WATCH: Patrick Mouratoglou publicly takes responsibility for Simona Halep’s doping scandal as he admits of introducing her to the supplement

Mouratoglou claims that Simona Halep's doping was accidental.

WATCH: Patrick Mouratoglou publicly takes responsibility for Simona Halep’s doping scandal as he admits of introducing her to the supplement

Patrick Mouratoglou and Simona Halep (Credits: TennisBuzz)

Simona Halep has been long banned over humiliating doping allegations that have sidelined her career right at the prime. Although the Romanian tennis icon has pleaded innocence, newer revelations in the case have shocked the tennis world when Patrick Mouratoglou, her former coach, publicly took responsibility for Simona Halep‘s doping scandal. In a video posted on his Instagram account, Mouratoglou admitted that he introduced Halep to the collagen supplement. They found Roxadustat, the banned substance that led to her suspension.

Mouratoglou expressed confidence that Halep will be able to clear her name on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said that her team had been able to establish that the Roxadustat in her system was from contamination. The veteran coach shared that she never intentionally took a banned substance.

YouTube video
This collagen happened to be contaminated, there was no way to know it. But I feel responsible for what happened because it's my team. So it's me basically who brought her this collagen.
said Mouratoglou in the video

Halep was suspended for four years by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in October 2022 after testing positive for Roxadustat at the US Open. She has appealed the suspension to the CAS, and a hearing is expected to take place in the coming months.

FS Video

Patrick Mouratoglou on the contamination in Simona Halep’s samples

Mouratoglou has expressed his concern about the possibility of contaminated nutrition supplements. Serena Williams‘ former coach believes that it poses a serious threat to athletes.

Patrick Mouratoglou
Patrick Mouratoglou (Credits: Vogue)

Mouratoglou said that Halep’s case has opened his eyes to the fact that any athlete can become a victim of contaminated supplements, regardless of how careful they are. He also warned that athletes face the risk of having their entire careers and reputations ruined through no fault of their own, given the very long bans that are often enforced in such cases.

It opened my eyes on the fact that any athlete can become contaminated tomorrow because apparently this happens more and more. We're talking about extremely low levels of something. It has zero effect, but you happen to have in your system something that shouldn't be there.

The coach urged athletes to be vigilant and to only take supplements from reputable sources. He also called on sports governing bodies to do more to protect athletes from contaminated supplements.

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