Simona Halep
- Investigations revealed that Halep “committed intentional violations.”
- Former Wimbledon champion confirms plan to appeal result
Former tennis world number one Simona Halep has been banned for four years for two willful anti-doping rule violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced.
Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon a year later, tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat at the 2022 US Open and also discovered irregularities in her athlete biological passport after analyzing 51 blood samples.
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Roxadustat is a substance that is legally used to treat anemia but is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list because it is considered a blood doping agent that increases hemoglobin and red blood cell production. The biological passport system monitors an athlete’s blood values over an extended period of time to detect irregularities that could indicate doping.
The 31-year-old Romanian announced in a statement that she would appeal the decision, which was the most serious in the sport since Maria Sharapova, also a former Wimbledon champion and world No. 1, was banned for 15 months, after she tested positive for meldonium.
“Today a tribunal under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program announced an interim decision in my case. Last year was the hardest game of my life and unfortunately my fight continues,” said Halep. “I have dedicated my life to the beautiful game of tennis. I take the rules of our sport very seriously and am proud that I have never knowingly or intentionally used banned substances. I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban.”
The sanction was handed down by an independent court after reviewing two days of evidence from scientific experts, reviewing 8,000 pages of evidence and also hearing from Halep himself. The court said it accepted Halep’s argument that she had taken a contaminated dietary supplement, but concluded that the amount the player took could not have resulted in the level of roxadustat found in the positive sample.
They also confirmed the allegation of the athlete’s biological passport and their expert panel said they had no reason to doubt the unanimous “strong opinion” of all three independent experts from the Athlete Passport Management Unit that “doping was probably” the explanation for the irregularities in Halep’s profile .
Halep, who has been provisionally suspended since October 2022, will not be able to play professional tennis again until October 6, 2026 – although the case remains open to appeal. Halep subsequently said she planned to appeal.
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Karen Moorhouse, chief executive of the ITIA, said: “Following a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision. The amount of evidence that the court had to consider in both the Roxadustat and ABP cases was significant.
“The ITIA has followed due processes as we would with any other person – in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code – and fulfilled our purpose and responsibility to uphold the principle of fair competition in the name of sport . The panel recognized that appropriate procedure had been followed in making the written decision.
“We understand the great public interest in these cases and continue to advocate for the greatest possible transparency. The full decision will be published in due course.”
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