Athletistic / Tennis. Former Romanian tennis player Simona Halep spoke emotionally about the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reduce the period of her disqualification for violation of anti-doping rules. The Romanian spent nine months out of professional tennis, although she was initially suspended for four years.

“Today marks a turning point as the court confirmed my position and brought clarity to this story. Firstly, by a unanimous decision, the CAS cleared me of all doping charges. Secondly, it was also determined to unanimously that the incident was a positive result. The test took place due to unintentional contamination of the additive. It was this fact that led to the mitigation of the sanction to nine months. Third, the court ordered ITIA to pay me compensation in the amount of 20,000 Swiss francs.

In the midst of this matter, the beacon for me was my unwavering belief in honesty and the principles of justice. Despite all the accusations and tremendous resistance, I remained joyful, based on the unshakable belief that I was a pure athlete. This test is a testimony of resilience, and the triumph of truth is a bittersweet vindication that belatedly brings me great satisfaction,” Halep wrote on her social media page.

Simona Halep has not appeared on the court since October 2022. Then her doping test taken at the 2022 US Open gave a positive result for roxadustat. The second offense committed by the 31-year-old tennis player became known in May. This stems from the discovery of inconsistencies in Halep’s biological passport.

Simona Halep is a former world number one. She has two victories at Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019). The Romanian is the winner of 25 WTA tournaments, including 24 in singles.


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