Previously, Simone spent about a year and a half out of tennis due to a similar offense.
Romanian tennis player, former world number one Simona Halep emotionally reacted to a month-long disqualification of a Polish colleague Igi Schwiatek in the context of its own, much more severe, doping history.
“I sit and try to understand, but it’s really impossible for me. I ask myself why there is such a big difference in approaches and verdicts? I can’t find and don’t think there could be a logical answer here. This can only be malice on the part of ITIA, an organization that has done absolutely everything to destroy me, despite the obvious.”
“How is it possible that in identical cases occurring around the same time, the ITIA took completely different approaches to my detriment. How could I come to terms with the fact that the WTA and the players’ council did not want to give me back my well-deserved rating!”
“I lost two years of my career, lost many sleepless nights, thoughts, worries, unanswered questions… but I achieved justice. It turned out that it was contamination [непреднамеренное попадание бактерий в организм]and the biological passport is pure fiction.”
Let us remind you that yesterday it became known that the second racket of the world, Iga Swiatek, agreed to a one-month disqualification for doping, which will expire on December 4.
On August 12, the Polish athlete took a doping test, which showed a positive result for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).
An investigation revealed that the source was contaminated with the approved over-the-counter drug melatonin, which Iga was taking to better acclimatize to jet lag and to combat sleep disturbances. Taking all the circumstances into account, the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) found Schwiatek’s level of culpability to be the lowest (“No significant fault or negligence”) and awarded a minimum period of ineligibility of one month.
Halep was charged with using the banned substance roxadustat at the 2022 US Open and discrepancies in the Romanian Athlete Biological Passport (ABP). In September 2023, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) reported that the Independent Tribunal had suspended Halep for four years.
Subsequently, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, found that the prohibited drug in the tennis player’s blood was accidental due to a contaminated food additive. The judges also took into account that the doping test was taken after the tennis player’s performances at the tournament. CAS upheld the appeal of the former world number one. The tennis player’s disqualification was reduced from four years to nine months. The ITF agreed to pay Simone CHF 20,000 in compensation.
Halep’s suspension was in effect since October 7, 2022, but due to all the proceedings, she was only able to return to the tour in the spring of 2024. Simone is currently ranked 877th in the WTA rankings.
The 33-year-old Romanian is a two-time Grand Slam champion. Halep spent 64 weeks as world number one.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
