Simona Halep issues statement pleading innocence and bashing ITIA’s biased judgement after being suspended for 4 years in doping allegations

Halep will not be able to play professional tennis again until 6 October 2026

Simona Halep issues statement pleading innocence and bashing ITIA’s biased judgement after being suspended for 4 years in doping allegations

Simona Halep (Credits :WTA)

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat at the 2022 US Open. The former world number 1 has been provisionally suspended since October 2022 and denies having knowingly consumed the substance. Speaking in her defense to Guardian Halep had said that the results, which were collated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, showed “extremely low” levels of the substance in her system.

The Romanian has suffered a huge setback now as she has been banned for four years for two breaches of anti-doping rules, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced earlier today. The independent tribunal confirmed that it had found the player had committed intentional anti-doping rule Violations under Article 2 of the TADP. They further confirmed the presence and use of roxadustat as evidenced in Halep’s urine sample collected on 29 August 2022 at the US Open. The verdict also alleged the use of a prohibited substance or method during 2022, based on the collection and analysis of 51 blood samples provided by the player as part of the ABP programme.

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Halep issued a strongly worded statement reiterating her innocence and vowed to challenge the verdict. Sharing a post on ‘X’, she said, “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 refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”

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Halep will not be able to play professional tennis again until 6 October 2026 if she fails in her appeal. Talking about the judgment, Karen Moorhouse, the chief executive officer at the ITIA, said: “After a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision. The volume of evidence for the tribunal to consider in both the roxadustat and ABP proceedings was substantial.”

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Simona Halep alleges foul play by ITIA in doping suspension

Simona Halep
Simona Halep (via imago)

Speaking in her defense, Halep explained her part of the story. “Ahead of the hard court season in 2022, upon recommendation from my trusted team and physiotherapist, I adjusted my nutritional supplements. None of the listed ingredients included any prohibited substances however we now know – and the tribunal agreed – one of them was contaminated with roxadustat. I was tested almost weekly after my initial positive test through early 2023, all of which came back negative,” she said, giving a timeline of the events.

The former world no.1 went on to allege the expert group assigned by ITIA of foul play. “Despite this evidence, the ITIA brought an ABP charge only after its expert group learned my identity, causing two out of three to suddenly change their opinion in favor of ITIA’s allegations. 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. 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 explained.

As a result of the suspension, the former World No.1 has dropped out of the WTA top 1000 rankings. Halep isn’t the only tennis player serving suspension on doping allegations. Swedish Pro Mikael Ymer admitted he had been charged with a potential anti-doping rule violation in January 2022 for missing three out-of-competition test attempts in a 12-month period. Subsequently, he announced his early retirement from the sport.

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