Former World No. 1 Tennis Player Banned 4 Years for Doping

One of the best tennis players in the world has been banned from tennis for four years after an independent tribunal found her guilty of breaching two anti-doping offenses. Simona Halep, 31, said in a statement she intends to appeal against the decision at the Court Arbitration for Sport, according to BBC. 

“I am continuing to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false allegations,” she said, per ESPN. “I intend to appeal this decision to The Court of Arbitration for Sport and pursue all legal remedies against the supplement company in question.”Last year, Halep tested positive for the use of roxadustat at the US Open. She was also found guilty of using of unspecified substance or method in 2020 after irregularities were found in her biological passport. In June, Halep pleaded her case in front of the independent tribunal. 

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“The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) can confirm that an independent tribunal has suspended Romanian tennis player Simona Halep for a period of four years following breaches of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP),” the ITIA said in a statement. Earlier this year, Halep claimed Roxadustat got into her body through a contaminated sample. 

“The tribunal accepted Halep’s argument that they had taken a contaminated supplement, but determined the volume the player ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in the positive sample, the ITIA said. “The ABP charge was also upheld, with the tribunal stating that they had no reason to doubt the unanimous ‘strong opinion’ reached by each of the three independent Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) experts that ‘likely doping’ was the explanation for the irregularities in Halep’s profile.

“Halep has been provisionally suspended since October 2022, which the tribunal credited against the period of ineligibility. As such, the former world number one’s suspension will run from 7 October 2022 until 6 October 2026. The case remains subject to appeal.”

Halep was the No. 1 women’s tennis player in 2017. She has won two Grand Slam titles in her career — the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019. Halep also reached the final of the Australia Open in 2015 and the semifinals of the US Open in 2015. She has won 24 titles in her career and has a record of 579-238.