Simona HALEP: “ITIA experts changed their minds after they learned who I was”

Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep He shared his views on doping accusations and disqualification.

“I believe in clean sports. During my professional career spanning almost two decades, I have played in hundreds of tournaments and won two major prizes; I passed 200 blood and urine tests for banned substances. Everything was open until August 29, 2022. Before the 2022 hard court season, I adjusted my nutritional supplements on the advice of the team and physiotherapist I trust very much. As far as we know, none of these contained banned substances and the court agreed. One of the supplements contained roxadustat. After the positive test, I was tested every week in 2023 – all tests came back clean.

Despite this evidence, ITIA found irregularities in my biological passport. But after their experts learned who I was, the two suddenly changed their minds in favor of ITIA charges. It was based solely on the opinions of these experts who looked at my blood parameters and they had been the same for ten years. These people ignored the fact that I had previously not found a very small amount of banned substances in my blood and urine, except for Roxadustat on August 29th. Considering that the result three days ago was negative, it is obvious that it was accepted as a coincidence.

I am forever grateful for the support of my family, friends and fans from all over the world. I will continue to train and do everything I can to dispel these false accusations and get back into the game. “I will appeal to CAS and take legal action against the manufacturer of the nutritional supplement,” Halep said.