NEW DELHI: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has initiated hearings for the appeal filed by former Wimbledon and French Open champion Simona Halep against a doping suspension that poses a threat to her esteemed career.
The 32-year-old Romanian athlete has been under provisional suspension since October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat, a banned substance known to enhance the production of red blood cells. The positive test occurred during the U.S. Open held in the same year.
Adding to the complexity of the situation, tennis anti-doping authorities have also charged Halep with another doping offense last year, citing irregularities in her athlete biological passport (ABP). The ABP serves as a method to monitor various blood parameters over time for any potential indications of doping.
Despite vehemently denying the allegations, Halep finds herself embroiled in a legal battle to clear her name. She contends that her positive test at the US Open was the result of consuming contaminated licensed supplements and has accused the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of unfairly targeting her regarding the ABP violation.
An independent tribunal did acknowledge Halep's assertion of inadvertently ingesting a contaminated supplement. However, it concluded that the quantity consumed could not have led to the concentration of roxadustat detected in her sample.
The proceedings at the CAS, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, are anticipated to extend until Friday. However, the court has refrained from specifying a timeline for delivering a verdict.
While Halep is slated to attend the hearings in person, she has chosen to withhold any statements until the conclusion of the proceedings, as confirmed by CAS.
Expressing her concerns to Euronews in December, Halep underscored the potential implications of an unfavorable ruling, suggesting that a four-year suspension could force her into retirement.
"It's catastrophic if it's going to be four years," she expressed. "I don't know how I will handle it. Probably it will be the end of my career."
The outcome of the appeal hearing holds immense significance not only for Halep but also for the broader landscape of professional tennis, as the sport continues its battle against doping and maintains the integrity of competition on the global stage.
(With inputs from Reuters)
