Simona Halep has claimed that she sent the International Tennis Federation evidence proving that she didn’t deliberately take banned substances but the governing body then denied ever receiving it.
The two-time Grand Slam champion is currently prohibited from participating on the Tour after testing positive for roxadustat following a test that was conducted during last year’s US Open. Roxadustat is a prescribed medicine which has been shown to increase oxygen intake. It is in the same category as EPO, which is another blood-boosting drug, on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances.
Halep has broken her silence on the ongoing case for the first time this week by giving an extensive interview with Tennis Majors in which she confirmed she is still waiting for her case to be heard. The Romanian says she has sought the help of ‘experts’ to find out why she has tested positive for a banned drug who conclude that it was due to contamination of a supplement she took.
“I had never heard about it (roxadustat) so I didn’t know how I could take it, and actually how it could be in my urine,” Halep told Tennis Majors.
“After a lot of work, they found out that there was a contamination, a supplement contamination, and that’s why the quantity was so so low in my body. A contamination is when someone takes an authorised supplement, but the company who sells it makes a mistake, and there’s a very low quantity of substance that should not be in there. The experts have worked a lot to find the reason of this contamination and they found out that the supplement was contaminated with a very low quantity of substance.”
Quizzed about who these experts are, Halep said she is not able to disclose their names but describes them as ‘extremely experienced’ in this area. Adding that both concluded it was a case of supplement contamination through their independent investigations.
Once these findings were established, Halep said she sent the evidence to the ITF last December but the organization denies ever receiving it. The ITF has not commented on this claim.
“I have sent the evidence to the ITF and they denied it. I sent it in December when we first worked on it. The ITF denied it and we are still going through it,” she said.
“Since the ITF denied it, the only chance this case has to be solved is to go to the tribunal to have a hearing about my case, and present all the evidence that my positive test was contaminated.”
After a duo of cancellations in her hearings, Halep is unlikely to present her case to a panel until the end of May which would be seven months after she was first notified of her doping violation. A process which she has criticized as unfair.
“I had a big hope that I could go to the tribunal to have a hearing and then I would know if I could play Indian Wells or not. (A) hearing on February 28th didn’t happen because the ITF requested more time to do additional testing. Even if I was looking through that, the hearing was postponed to March 24th. The ITF requested that the hearing on March 24th should be cancelled.” Said Halep.
“I did not agree with that because as the rule says, a player that is provisionally suspended is entitled to get an expedited hearing. Everything takes so long. I asked the ITF to lift my sanction to be able to play but they also refused it.”
Despite her ongoing battle, the 31-year-old is determined to continue her career once she is allowed to do so. Halep has won 24 WTA titles and has been runner-up at 18 other tournaments. She has also earned more than $40M in prize money and won over 550 matches.
“I really want to play again because I love this sport and I want to play for the big titles again. I have worked all my life for this.” She stated.
“Until now, tennis has always been my life. I feel that I want to do it again when I come back. I want to be as strong as I was before, even more if it’s possible. I’m working for that and I know I’m going to struggle because it will be almost eight months without playing an official match and all the pressure there was about this case. I strongly believe that if I work hard, I can play at the highest level again.”
It is reported that Halep’s hearing will take place on May 28th but this hasn’t officially been confirmed.
UPDATE: Since the publication of this article, the ITF has issued the following statement:-
“The ITF has had no involvement in the management of this case, as the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is managed and enforced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on behalf of the ATP, WTA, ITF and Grand Slams.” An ITF spokesperson has stated.
