Former World No. 1 Halep Suspended For Four Years For Anti-Doping Violations

Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 17:58

Updated at Sunday, 03 August 2025 at 20:53

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byZachary Wimer

After waiting for over a year, Simona Halep finally got a verdict on her doping case, and it's not good news, as she's been officially suspended from competing on the WTA Tour for four years.

It seems that Halep's tennis career might be over. The Romanian tennis player has already missed over a year of tennis due to how long it took for the resolution of her doping case to come. Now, there is a conclusion to the case, and it's the worst possible news for the Romanian.

Despite being defended by multiple prominent tennis figures and described as a person who would never do anything wrong, Halep has been officially suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for four years for a breach of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

The news came down on Tuesday, September 12th, with the ruling coming one day earlier on September 11th. The report published by the ITIA states that Halep has intentionally committed breaches of the Anti-Doping Programme.

The breaches in question are:

The presence and use of roxadustat as evidenced in Halep’s urine sample collected on 29 August 2022 at the US Open.

Use of a prohibited substance or method during 2022, based on collection and analysis of 51 blood samples provided by the player as part of the ABP programme.

Halep claimed that the first breach happened due to an accidental ingestion, but the court found the volume of the substance ingested too great for it to have happened accidentally.

The second one breach happened because three different Athlete Passport Management Units determined that doping was likely the cause of her biological passport irregularities.

Her suspension will end on October 6th, 2026, with the CEO of the ITIA, Karen Moorhouse, releasing a statement after the final decision in Halep's case was announced.

"After a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision.  The ITIA has followed the proper processes as we would with any other individual - in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code - fulfilling our purpose and responsibility to uphold the principle of fair competition, on behalf of the sport. "