Simona Halep is back!
The Romanian, who tested positive at the 2022 US Open, had been fighting for almost two years to prove her innocence and return to the courts.
It is now done.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday March 5 reduced the suspension imposed on the tennis champion for two infractions of anti-doping regulations, reducing her from four years to nine months, which she has served since last July.
Simona Halep can therefore play again in official competition as soon as she wishes.
A “contaminated supplement”
After three days of hearing at the beginning of February, the sports court considered that the positive test of the former world No. 1 came from a “contaminated supplement” according to a press release.
The winner of Roland Garros 2018 was also accused of “irregularities” in the data of her biological passport, a long-term monitoring tool for high-level athletes.
On this point, the CAS considered that these anomalies could be linked to a “surgical operation”.
🚨 Simona Halep returns!
After a hearing, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced his suspension from 4 years to 9 months.
Banned from all competitions since October 2022 when she was 7th in the world, the 32-year-old Romanian, now unranked, can play again with immediate effect.
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— Benoit Maylin (@BenoitMaylin) March 5, 2024
Halep, the first leading tennis player caught in the anti-doping net since the suspension of Maria Sharapova in 2016, has continued to proclaim her innocence, and assured that she had “never taken any prohibited product intentionally”.