Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been handed a four-year ban after breaching the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, according to an independent tribunal.
The 31-year-old Romanian was found to have committed “intentional” anti-doping violations. Halep, who tested positive for the use of roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, was also found guilty of using an unspecified prohibited substance or method in 2022 due to irregularities in her biological passport.
While Halep argued that she had taken a contaminated supplement, the tribunal determined that this would not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in her urine sample. Roxadustat is an anti-anaemia drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells.
The tribunal also supported the unanimous “strong opinion” of three independent experts that “likely doping” was the cause of the irregularities in her biological passport.
Halep, who has been provisionally suspended since October 2022, is set to be eligible to return to the sport on October 7, 2026, at the age of 35. However, she intends to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In her statement, Halep expressed her commitment to clearing her name and claimed that she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.” She also pointed out that she had undergone numerous clean drug tests throughout her career.
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) criticized the “repeated and unexplained delays” in Halep’s case and pledged its support for her in any future appeals.
Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, is the highest-profile tennis player to fail a drugs test since Maria Sharapova in 2016.
She has won 24 WTA tour singles titles and earned £32.2 million ($40.2 million) in prize money. She was ranked as the world number one in 2017 and 2018.
Source: BBC Sports.
