Simona Halep officially lodges appeal with Court of Arbitration for Sport

James Richardson 24 Oct 2023 5:02 PM

Simona Halep talks to the media

Former world No 1 Simona Halep has appealed her four-year suspension from participation in all tennis for violating anti-doping regulations to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 2019 Wimbledon singles champion was placed on indefinite suspension in September 2022 by an International Tennis Integrity Agency tribunal after testing positive for the illegal drug Roxadustat in October 2022.

The 32-year-old Romanian was found guilty of two counts of deliberate anti-doping infractions by the panel, but she has now filed an appeal with CAS to have that verdict reversed.

Halep has consistently maintained her innocence since the very beginning of the process.

She won’t be eligible to participate again until October 2026, when she would be 35 years old, if the suspension is maintained.

Halep said in a statement made at the time of the ban that she “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.”

“I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.

“Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed,” Halep said

“The situation has been really hard. Emotionally, it’s heavy. The stress is huge because I never thought I would face something like this,” Halep said in an interview with Cédric Rouquette of Tennis Majors.

Halep says that the stress of the situation has taken its toll on her.

“I have always been against doping as I am a big supporter of clean sports. At the beginning, I didn’t know how to handle it. Over time, I just tried to stay calm and actually, I feel confident because I know I’m clean and I didn’t take anything knowingly that is banned.”

She is permitted to appeal the court’s ruling via the Swiss Federal Tribunal if it is not to her liking, but CAS has not specified when the appeal would be reviewed.

Halep has enjoyed the support of many notable figures in tennis including former coach Darren Cahill and Patrick Mouratoglou.

“I know Simona’s integrity and I have no doubt that she has never taken any banned substance,” the Frenchman said of the decision.

“I sat through the entire two days of hearing with her and I CANNOT believe that the tribunal has reached that decision based on the evidence and arguments that I heard.

“The process and the ITIA have been totally unfair to Simona and it is totally unacceptable.

“I hope that Simona will prevail at CAS which is the only tribunal that is not controlled by the ITIA.”