September 12, (THEWILL) – Former world number one, Simona Halep, has been suspended from professional tennis for four years after being found guilty of two doping offences.
The Romanian player, a two-time Grand Slam champion, tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open. An independent tribunal also concluded there were irregularities in Halep’s biological passport data that constituted an anti-doping violation. The 31-year-old was provisionally suspended in October 2022 after her positive test at Flushing Meadows.
In May, she was charged with a second doping breach over anomalies in her athlete biological passport results. After examining evidence and hearing testimony from scientific experts, the tribunal determined Halep had committed intentional doping violations.
Halep will be ineligible to compete until October 2026. Upon receiving the tentative ruling, she vowed to appeal and said she has “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.” However, the tribunal found she ingested a contaminated supplement but that the quantity could not solely explain the concentration of Roxadustat.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency, which announced the ban, said proper processes were followed in accordance with anti-doping rules. CEO Karen Moorhouse noted the “significant public interest” and said the full decision will be published later. Halep won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019. She has been ranked world number one on two different occasions for a total of 64 weeks.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
