Two-time Grand Slam champion and former world no. 1 Simona Halep has been handed another seven-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) charged her with a second doping offence for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport. The charge “is separate and in addition to” the provisional suspension that Halep received last year after failing a drug test at the U.S. Open in August, the ITIA said. Follow WTA Live News and Updates on InsideSport.IN
Things going from bad to worse for former WTA #1 Simona Halep, who has been off tour since her positive test at 2022 US Open for a banned substance.
She’s now charged with a second, separate anti-doping breach for irregularities found in her biological passport.
From the ITIA: pic.twitter.com/E6IJFfoSZU
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) May 19, 2023
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Nicole Sapstead on Halep’s second doping charge
The ITIA said the new charge “was based on an assessment” of Halep’s biological passport profile by an expert panel. Such passports provide a baseline reading of substances in an athlete’s body and are considered a way to help chart doping.
“We understand that today’s announcement adds complexity to an already high-profile situation. From the outset of this process — and indeed any other at the ITIA — we have remained committed to engaging with Ms. Halep in an empathetic, efficient, and timely manner,” Nicole Sapstead, the group’s senior director for anti-doping, said in a statement.
Simona Halep explains her side of the story
In a social media post, Halep wrote Friday that she has “lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life” since being initially charged by the ITIA.
She continued, saying her “name been soiled in the worst possible way” and that the ITIA is determined “to prove my guilt while I haven’t EVER even thought of taking any illicit substance.”
Halep’s post says she was a “victim of contamination” and always has “been totally against any sort of cheating.”
“I look forward to finally being able to present my case at my hearing that is scheduled at the end of May,” she said.
Before her provisional suspension was made public, Halep announced in September she was taking the rest of last season off after having nose surgery to improve her breathing. She had considered retiring earlier in 2022 after a series of injuries, but then said she felt rejuvenated after teaming up with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with Williams.
The ITIA said Halep tested positive in New York for the banned substance Roxadustat, a drug approved for medical use in the European Union to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure.
According to the EU’s medicines agency, which approved Roxadustat last year, it stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners.
During a provisional suspension, a tennis player is ineligible to compete in, or attend, any sanctioned events.
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