Simona Halep questions the handling of Iga Świątek’s doping case after former world number one is given a one-month ban

Simona Halep questions the handling of Iga Świątek’s doping case after former world number one is given a one-month ban

Former world number one Simona Halep has expressed her dissatisfaction with the way Iga Świątek’s doping case was handled compared to her own.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced this week that Świątek tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart drug known as TMZ, during an out-of-competition doping test in August.

The five-time champion was given a one-month ban, with the ITIA accepting her explanation that the positive result was unintentional and caused by the contamination of a non-prescription drug, melatonin.

The Iga Świątek police have imposed a short doping ban

Iga Świątek will serve the last few days of her month-long doping ban away from tennis after authorities accepted her explanation of how she tested positive for a banned heart drug.

Świątek claimed she was taking the medication for problems with jet lag and sleep.

Halep, who was initially given a four-year doping ban before successfully appealing, said Świątek’s case was handled differently by tennis authorities.

“I sit and try to understand, but it’s really impossible for me to understand something like this,” Halep posted on her Instagram account.

“I sit and wonder, ‘Why such a big difference in treatment and judgment?’

‘I can’t find a logical answer, and I don’t think it’s possible.

“It can only be ill will on the part of ITIA, the organization that did absolutely everything it could to destroy me despite the evidence.”

Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, was handed a four-year ban after testing positive for the banned drug roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.

Earlier this year, her suspension was reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after CAS accepted her explanation about a contaminated supplement.

“I have always believed in the good, I have believed in the fairness of this sport, I have believed in kindness,” Halep wrote on Instagram.

“The injustice done to me was painful, is painful and may always remain painful.

“How is it possible that in identical cases that occurred at approximately the same time (in the season), ITIA takes completely different approaches, to my detriment?”

Halep can play tennis again

Former world number one Simona Halep can return to tennis after her appeal to the Court of Arbitration to Sport was partially upheld, finding she likely unintentionally used a banned substance.

Świątek’s suspension follows a similar case involving Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked men’s player.

Sinner tested positive for an anabolic steroid twice in March, but was not banned in an ITIA decision because the agency ruled he was not to blame.

It led to claims by some observers of a two-tiered system, with critics claiming it offered protection to the sinner due to his status as a leading player.

Earlier this month, ATP Tour president Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged there could have been “better communication” in explaining the rules in Sinner’s doping case, but refuted accusations of double standards.

However, the decision to clear Sinner of misconduct was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September.

WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years and Switzerland-based CAS is expected to make a final ruling on the case in 2025.

AP


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