Simona Halep has criticised tennis’s anti-doping bodies for repeatedly delaying her independent tribunal hearing and not allowing her the chance to defend herself against a rule violation.
Halep, a two-time grand slam champion and former world No 1, has been provisionally suspended since October after testing positive for the drug Roxadustat following her US Open first-round loss. Roxadustat is primarily an anti-anaemia medicine that catalyses red blood cell creation in the body. Halep denies knowingly taking the banned substance.
According to Halep, her hearing was initially scheduled for 28 February, which gave her hope that she would know whether or not she could compete at Indian Wells. Anti-doping tests have been administered by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) since January 2022. Despite Halep directing her frustration at the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ITF said on Friday morning that they have no involvement in the case.
“The ITF has had no involvement in the management of this case, as the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is managed and enforced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on behalf of the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slams,” the ITF said in a statement.
An ITIA spokesman said: “The process is ongoing and is being run in line with the World Anti-Doping Code.”
Speaking publicly for the first time since announcing she had received the anti-doping rule violation, Halep said that the February hearing was eventually postponed to 24 March as the ITF required more time for additional testing, but the subsequent date was also postponed. Halep’s tribunal hearing is now scheduled for 28 May, the first day of the French Open.
“The next step is a hearing at the end of May, the 28th, but it is very fragile because the ITF said that they might cancel it as well,” she said. “If they do that, it will be almost eight months since I’ve been provisionally suspended for the first time and I believe that it’s not fair to spend eight months without even being judged by the tribunal.
“Emotionally, the whole period has not been easy and I just felt the need to speak out loud to my fans, to my supporters, and actually to the whole public,” continued Halep in an interview with Tennis Majors. Tennis Majors, lists Patrick Mouratoglou, Halep’s coach, as a member of its staff.
Halep says that she sought the advice of “experts” who provided her with evidence that she unknowingly took contaminated supplements due to a mistake from the company that sells the supplements. Halep says she presented her evidence to the ITF in December, but the organisation chose to proceed with an anti-doping tribunal. Halep declined to name the experts as she has retained them for her tribunal.
“I had never heard about it so I didn’t know how I could take it, and actually how it could be in my urine. After a lot of work they found out that there was a contamination, a supplement contamination, and that’s why the quantity was so, so low in my body,” said Halep.
Halep says she has continued to train and she remains motivated to return to professional tennis and re-establish herself at the top, but at 31 years old every passing day on the sideline makes a comeback more difficult. Halep says she is primarily concerned with finally having the opportunity to defend her case.
“It’s been seven months since I’ve been originally suspended even though I’ve had all the evidence since December,” she said. “I’m not asking for special treatment. I just ask to be judged. How much longer is this going to take?”
