Romania’s Simona Halep has been banned for four years by the independent panel that oversees anti-doping rules in tennis. The ruling is one that could effectively end the career of the former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion.
Halep, 31, was charged with two violations of the sport’s anti-doping rules after failing a drug test at the 2022 US Open. Halep tested positive for Roxadustat, a drug commonly used in people suffering from anemia. Red blood cell level.
Roxadustat is on the list of banned drugs because it artificially stimulates hemoglobin and red blood cell production, a technique used by athletes to gain more endurance. This drug does this by causing the body to produce more erythropoietin, a hormone that plays an important role in the production of red blood cells, commonly called “EPO.”
Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. More red blood cells can improve endurance, which has made EPO a particularly common performance-enhancing substance in professional cycling for many years.
Halep was also accused of having irregularities in her blood compared to samples the agency has access to as part of its so-called biological passport, which provides standards for doping enforcers. The three-judge tribunal hearing the case between the International Tennis Integrity Agency and Halep found that the misconduct indicated the use of banned substances during the season.
Halep, who had never previously failed a drug test, argued and presented evidence to support his claim that Roxadustat was present in the tainted supplements he took ahead of the U.S. Open, but that it was not listed as either: ingredient. The tribunal accepted this argument, but after hearing expert testimony, concluded that supplement contamination could not explain the amount of roxadustat found in her urine.
ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse said she welcomed the decision after a year-long process that drew significant criticism from coaches and other athletes who worked with Halep. Moorhouse said about 8,000 pages of evidence were considered.
“ITIA, along with other individuals, has followed appropriate procedures in carrying out its purpose and responsibility to maintain fair competition principles on behalf of sport under the World Anti-Doping Code,” she said.
Halep said in a statement released through her communications team that she had never knowingly taken a banned substance and that she would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which serves as the highest court in sports disputes. She said she found the evidence she presented to the tribunal to be persuasive.
Halep said, “I am grateful that we are finally getting results after experiencing multiple groundless delays and being in purgatory for over a year, but I am both shocked and disappointed by their decision.”
The suspension is the most high-profile ruling in sports since Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and one of the highest-paid female athletes in the world, was banned for two years for a doping violation in 2016.
Sharapova tested positive for the heart drug, which improves blood flow and helps athletes recover faster, in January 2016, shortly after it was added to the list of banned substances.
Sharapova was quick to admit that she had been taking heart medication, whose active ingredient is meldonium, for 10 years to manage various health problems. She said she did not know the drug was banned. Sharapova was 29 years old at the time of her suspension, and although she returned to tennis, she retired at the age of 32 in 2020.
If the Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds the suspension, Halep will be unable to compete in tennis until October 2026 as she has been provisionally suspended for almost a year.
