Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Romanian tennis player suspended for doping Simona Halep said he did not believe she was guilty.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Tuesday that Halep, 31, would be suspended for four years. The Romanian woman was charged with two separate counts. The first involved a negative drug test result for the banned substance roxadustat at the 2022 US Open. The second charge was related to discrepancies in the athlete’s biological passport indicators.
“I can’t believe the ITIA made such a decision in Simone’s case.” I am extremely shocked, as I was previously shocked by the methods of an organization that should treat players fairly and try to establish the truth. I know Simone’s honesty and I am convinced that she has never taken illegal drugs.
I sat with her for both days of the hearing and I cannot believe that the court made such a decision based on the evidence and arguments I heard. The trial was conducted unfairly towards Simone. I hope she wins her case before the CAS, which is the only court not controlled by the ITIA.
I hope that the WTA, the ATP and the players’ union will do everything possible to change the system that is destroying the careers of innocent people,” Mouratoglou wrote on the social network.
Halep topped the WTA rankings for 64 weeks. She has won two Grand Slam singles tournaments: the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon. In total, the Romanian has 24 titles in WTA tournaments.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
