Former women’s tennis player Halep, who received a provisional doping penalty, is suspected of doping again
Simona Halep (31, Romania), who won the women’s singles in major tennis tournaments twice, was caught up in a second doping suspicion.
The International Tennis Integrity Organization (ITIA) said on the 20th (Korean time) that it found a problem after looking into Halep’s athlete’s Biological Passport.
ABP is a system that collects blood and urine of athletes and monitors biomarkers. Through this system, the number of red blood cells and white blood cells and the concentration of steroid metabolites can be tracked to detect doping violations.
This is not the first time Halef has been found guilty of doping violations.
In a doping test conducted at the US Open last year, traces of Halep taking her banned drug loxadustat were found, and a provisional suspension was issued.
Since then, additional doping suspicions have been raised against Halep, who has not been able to participate in the tournament for over half a year.
The ITIA explained, “The issue of player biometric passports discovered this time is a separate matter from those previously discovered.”
Halef will appear at a hearing later this month regarding her existing doping allegations.
Even if she proves her innocence on this occasion, she will not be able to stand on the court until she clears up the second suspicion.
The ITIA said, “We are fully aware that this announcement adds complexity to an event that is already getting high profile attention. We are committed to communicating with Halef in a sympathetic, efficient and timely manner.”
Halef immediately issued a statement on social media and appealed his innocence, saying, “I didn’t even think about taking illegal drugs, but ITIA decided to prove my guilt.” “My reputation is being tarnished in the worst way.”
Halef is a top-level star player who has won 24 tour events in his career.
He has won two singles titles in major tournaments, the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019.
For the second consecutive year since 2017, she has been ranked at the end of the year at No. 1 in the Women’s Professional Tennis (WTA) singles rankings 토토사이트.
It is the first time since 2016 that an athlete as high as Halef has been caught for doping violations since Maria Sharapova (her retirement · Russia).
Sharapova, who was then sentenced to a two-year suspension, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where the judge reduced her disciplinary level to 15 months, telling Sharapova that she was without gross negligence and that she could not be considered intentional doping. lowered
Roxadustat is a drug prescribed for patients with anemia or kidney problems, and functions to increase red blood cell production.