Romanian tennis player Simona Halep faces a second doping allegation.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed on Friday that the former world number one has been accused of a separate anti-doping policy violation due to irregularities in its Athlete Biological Passport.
Halep was provisionally suspended in October last year after a positive doping test. The two-time Grand Slam tournament winner gave a positive sample while attending the US Open in August 2022. The banned substance roxadustat, which was included in the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) 2022 banned list, was found on her.
Halep denies all allegations
Halep had already denied the allegation of doping and is now also defending himself. She is going through “the worst nightmare” and her name is “stained in the worst way,” wrote the 31-year-old. She “never thought about taking an illegal substance”.
When the sample was positive, she was said to have been the victim of contamination, and now the ITIA wrongly wants to accuse her of something: “Three renowned experts who examined my blood tests came to the unequivocal conclusion that my blood is completely normal.”
athlete passport should abnormalities make detectable
The Athlete Biological Passport was introduced by Wada as a long-term profile for athletes, containing biomarkers from athletes’ doping controls. Observed over a longer period of time, abnormalities or deviations from normal values can be read from these parameters.