Simona Halep CAS hearing: All you need to know about the Romanian's final throw of the dice in her doping case

Simona Halep's final battle against the four-year suspension handed to her will start from February 7, 2024 at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). After a routine doping test following her first-round exit from the 2022 US Open, she tested positive for a banned substance, Roxadustat.

Halep was then provisionally suspended from the tour, but proclaimed her innocence. She appealed the ban as well, but the hearing kept getting postponed. Finally, the matter was heard and a decision was announced in September 2023.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) conducted a thorough independent investigation in the matter and handed Halep a four-year ban. In their statement, they mentioned that the two-time Major champion had committed "intentional anti-doping violations" which was backed by an analysis of her blood samples, which were a part of the ABP (Athlete Blood Passport).

"The independent tribunal, established by Sport Resolutions, met on 28 and 29 June 2023 in London, and heard from expert scientific witnesses on behalf of Simona Halep and the ITIA, with the player also giving evidence directly to the panel as part of proceedings,"

"On 11 September 2023, the tribunal confirmed that it had found the player had committed intentional Anti-Doping Rule Violations under Article 2 of the TADP," - the ITIA's statement.

Halep vehemently opposed the findings of the report. In her official statement on the matter, she asserted that she had never tested positive for any banned substances in her career before this.

The Romanian had recently altered her nutritional supplements prior to her last test on advice of her team. The only reason Roxadustat entered her body was through the new supplements, which were contaminated with it.

"I believe in a clean sport and in almost two decades as a professional tennis player, through hundreds of tournaments and two Grand Slam titles, I have taken 200 blood and urine tests to check for prohibited substances - all of which have been clean, until August 29, 2022," - Simona Halep's statement on the matter.

"Ahead of the hard court season in 2022, upon recommendation from my trusted team and physiotherapist, I adjusted my nutritional supplements. None of the listed ingredients included any prohibited substance; however, we now know - and the tribunal agreed - one of them was contaminated with roxadustat. I was tested almost weekly after my initial positive test through early 2023, all of which came back negative," - she added.

Halep also alleged that her case has been mishandled, especially the ABP aspect of it. According to her, the ABP was considered only after her identity came to light, which cause two of the three experts to change their views. They also ingored her previous history of a perfectly clean record.

"The ITIA brought an ABP charge only after its expert group learned my identity, causing two out of three to suddenly change their opinion in favor of ITIA's allegations. The ITIA relied solely on the opinions of these experts who looked only at my blood parameters - which I've maintained for more than 10 years in the same range," - Simona Halep said.

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Simona Halep's appeal to overturn her ban enters its final stage

Simona Halep at the 2022 Canadian Open.

As mentioned earlier, Simona Halep's hearing will begin from February 7 at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Romanian will be present in person as well. The CAS has released a brief media statement prior to the start of the matter.

The hearing will commence at 9:30 a.m. local time, with the parties opening submissions. The facts of the case will be considered after that, along with witness testimonies. The proceedings will conclude on February 9, around 3:30 p.m.

However, the final decision may not be disclosed by then and there is no set timeline for it either. Halep will not be making any more statements regarding the case until the end of the hearing.