Great success at the Green Table for Simona Halep: The International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has reduced the doping ban against the former tennis world number one from Romania from four years to nine months. The 32-year-old has already served this sentence, meaning the former French Open and Wimbledon winner can return to professional tennis immediately.
“I can’t wait to return to the tour,” Halep said in a statement: “Throughout this long and difficult process, I held on to my belief that the truth would come to light and a just decision would be made, because I “I am and have always been a clean athlete.”
She continued to speak of “scandalous allegations” that had been made against her: “But in the end the truth prevailed, even if it took much longer than I would have liked.”
Halep requested that the verdict be overturned
Halep had challenged a ban imposed on her by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (Itia) for violations of the anti-doping program in tennis and was now partially successful, as the CAS announced on Tuesday.
Halep had requested that the verdict be overturned. The two-time Grand Slam tournament winner gave a positive doping test while taking part in the US Open in August 2022. The banned substance roxadustat, which was included in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2022 banned list, was found on her.
CAS: Halep’s violations not intentional
A second charge related to irregularities in her biological athlete passport. Halep was originally banned until October 2026. Due to the CAS ruling, the ban expired in July 2023. Although the CAS found a violation of the anti-doping rules, after “careful examination” it followed Halep’s statement that the banned substance “entered her body through the consumption of a contaminated dietary supplement.”
And further: “As a result, the CAS Panel concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Ms. Halep was also able to demonstrate that her anti-doping rule violations were not willful.”
Halep always maintained her innocence
Itia announced last autumn that there had been a negotiation in London on June 28th and 29th last year, at which, among other things, scientific experts from both sides were heard. The court ruled that Halep intentionally violated the anti-doping program.
Halep had always protested her innocence in both cases and explained the positive doping sample by saying that she had been a victim of contamination. The court accepted this argument, but at the same time found that the amount the player allegedly took could not have led to the roxadustat concentration found in the doping sample, Itia said at the time.