Romanian former world number one Simona Halep confirmed today, Tuesday, that she will appeal the four-year suspension issued by the International Tennis Integrity Agency due to two separate violations of anti-doping rules. She stated that she "refuses to accept her suspension until October 2026." In a statement to Reuters, she said, "I continue to train and do everything I can to clear my name from these false accusations and return to court. I intend to appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and pursue all legal actions against the supplement company involved in the case."
The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced today that it has "suspended Simona Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion, for four years due to two separate violations of anti-doping rules." Halep strongly denied deliberately taking the banned substance and said she has evidence proving that small amounts of a blood-boosting drug entered her body through a contaminated approved dietary supplement.
The agency added: "The court accepted Halep's defense that she consumed a contaminated supplement but decided that the amount the player ingested could not lead to the concentration of Roxadustat found in the positive sample." It continued: "The second charge relates to violations in Halep's biological passport." The 31-year-old player, who has won Wimbledon and the French Open, had been provisionally suspended since October 2022 after testing positive for a banned substance at the US Open last year.
