Post doping fiasco, Romanian legend Ilie Nastase hints doctor gave Simona Halep “something” she wasn’t aware about
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Ilie Nastase (L) and Simona Halep (R)
Two-time grand slam champion Simona Halep was suspended for a doping offence on Friday after Roxadustat was found in her blood sample. Soon enough, Halep issued a statement in which she clarified that she didn’t take the substance intentionally and cited her ethics and values as a reason to never cheat.
Recently, Romanian tennis great Ilie Nastase also expressed his opinions the shocking development in an interview to Agerpres. “We have to see what happened, maybe the doctor gave her something he wasn’t allowed to give her, because she was injured all the time in her ankles and in other places. And that is possible. But I don’t want to comment, because I don’t know,” said Nastase.
Halep now risks a suspension of up to 4 years for doping. While Halep has claimed that she hasn’t ingested any illegal substance intentionally, her blood samples show traces of drugs.
Also Read: Iga Swiatek trains on “Another one bites the dust” after Simona Halep’s doping suspension
Tennis Twitter indicts coach Patrick Mouratoglou for Simona Halep’s doping crime
Interestingly, when the samples were taken, Patrick Mouratoglou was Halep’s coach but just a couple of weeks ago, he started a new partnership with Holger Rune.
According to timelines provided by a Twitter account, Mouratoglou joined the Rune team on October 12th, after Halep was made aware of her positive test.
Meanwhile, this is what Halep had to say about the shocking turn of events:
“Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.”
The Romanian added: “I will fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out. It’s not about the titles or the money. It’s about honour, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years.”
Although a WADA appeal to the suspension is still an option for Halep, reversals of such nature are rare and usually take a lot of time to contest.
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Ashish Maggo
(191 Articles Published)