The case of Romanian tennis star Simona Halep who was temporarily suspended for doping last year, will be judged on April 30 by the Sports Resolutions Tribunal, her father told Romanian media.
„We still don’t know anything. We’re waiting just like you are…. We’re doing okay. When you’re innocent, you fight tooth and nail,” Stere Halep said after watching a football ,atch in Bucharest according to As..
Halep, 31, was no. 1 in women’s singles ranking and has won two Grand Slam titles. She is currently 26th in the WTA ranking and has not played tennis since August 2022.
In October, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) shocked everyone when they announced that Halep failed a doping test and tested positive for anti-anemia drug Roxadustat.
Just minutes after the ITIA announcement, Halep also released her own statement, calling it „the biggest shock of her life.” “I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.
Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed,” Halep said in her statement last October.
Halep could face a four-year suspension because Roxadustat is included in the same category as erythropoietin by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The drug treats anemia in patients with kidney complications. In practice, it increases the production of red blood cells that facilitate the transport of oxygen in the blood, increasing the athlete’s endurance.
