Djokovic's PTPA Releases Statement Regarding Halep's Doping Ruling

Wednesday, 13 September 2023 at 11:03

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byJake Davies

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) continued to support Simona Halep as they released another strong statement in full defence of her following her four-year suspension.

The PTPA was essentially created to protect and support the rights of players in both men's and women's professional tennis. The organisation continued to be quite outspoken about the elongated process of Halep's doping case.

Earlier this month, the PTPA claimed that the WTA's handling of Halep's situation was a 'disgrace' and they felt like the governing body of women's tennis needed to be doing a lot more in order to aid Halep's distressful circumstances.

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Ahmad Nassar, the executive director of PTPA, called out the WTA via social media merely days ago.

"Agree that it's a disgrace. Patently unfair to Simona Halep, her family, team, and fans. However, I am not surprised that the tour hasn't spoken out on this. The tours long ago abdicated their responsibilities towards the players here. This is just one example of why claiming to adequately represent the players and tournaments simultaneously simply does not work. And one reason why player leaders decided to create PTPA."

PTPA released their statement about Halep's four-year ban. Once again, they stayed firmly on her side and continued to emphasis how the unexplained delays were something that really should not be happening.

"As the Professional Tennis Players Association, we staunchly support and protect players' rights in all instances. That includes exercising their due process and appellate rights in anti-doping cases. The repeated and unexplained delays in Simona Halep's case are both unfair and unacceptable."

"The PTPA is fully committed in supporting her in any future appeals, as well as all players who require assistance. As indicated in our PTPA principles, we will also continue advocating for improved processes moving forward, for the benefit of all."