at The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) served former world number one Simona Halep with a 4 year doping related suspension for failing two separate drug tests. Halep was provisionally suspended in Oct 2022 after she tested positive for Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.
Roxadustat also known as EPO is a drug that a lot of athletes, especially cyclists use to increase their performance. Halep also failed her athlete biological passport readings which was carried out by a team of experts. She has been suspended till Oct 6, 2026.
Halep Claims Innocence Will Appeal
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Halep who won the 2019 Wimbledon championship and the 2018 French Open has claimed that she is innocent of these charges and said that she refuses to accept the decision of the ITIA.
The 31 year old has said that she will appeal the decision and take it to the highest court to get it overturned. She claims that the test results are due to a tainted supplement and she would go to The Court of Arbitration for Sport and take legal action against the said supplement company.
Serena Williams whom Halep beat at the 2019 Wimbledon final and denied her of tying Margaret Court’s record for the most grand slam wins (24) posted a generic statement on X saying she should have got 8!
