Simona Halep cleared for tennis return after doping ban appeal
Following an appeal, the doping ban of Simona Halep, the former World No. 1, has been reduced from four years to nine months, allowing her to immediately return to her tennis career.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport partially upheld her appeal, after the Romanian, a two-time Grand Slam winner, contested a four-year ban imposed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
“The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) acknowledges today’s decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Romanian tennis player Simona Halep. Following a hearing held between 7-9 February 2024 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the CAS panel has partially upheld an appeal from Halep against a disciplinary sanction imposed by an independent tribunal in September 2023, reducing the period of ineligibility from four years to nine months,” the ITIA said.
“An essential element of the anti-doping process is a player’s ability to appeal, and the ITIA respects both their right to do so and the outcome. The ITIA awaits the full reasoned decision and will review it thoroughly in due course,” ITIA Chief Executive Officer, Karen Moorhouse added.
After the U.S. Open in 2022, the 32-year-old tested positive for roxadustat, a banned anti-anaemia drug that boosts the production of red blood cells, leading to her suspension.
In 2023, the former French Open and Wimbledon champion faced an additional doping accusation due to anomalies in her athlete biological passport (ABP), a system established to track various blood parameters over time to detect possible doping.
Halep attributed testing positive for the banned roxadustat to tainted nutritional supplements and accused the ITIA of an ABP violation after experts discovered her identity.
“I adjusted my nutritional supplements. None 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. Despite this evidence, the ITIA brought an ABP charge only after its expert group learned my identity,” Halep said in a statement in September 2023.
