Simona Halep set for tennis return as doping ban is cut to nine months
Al JazeeraThe former Grand Slam champion was banned for four years in 2022, but can now return to the game immediately having already been out for more than a year. Simona Halep’s four-year doping ban has been cut to nine months by the top court for global sport, making the former world number one eligible to return to competition immediately. “The CAS Panel has unanimously determined that the four-year period of ineligibility … is to be reduced to a period of ineligibility of nine months starting on 7 October 2022, which period expired on 6 July 2023,” the CAS said on Tuesday. “I cannot wait to return to the tour.” Halep was suspended in October 2022 after she tested positive for roxadustat – a banned drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells – at the US Open that year. In response to the ruling, ITIA Chief Executive Officer Karen Moorhouse said: “An essential element of the anti-doping process is a player’s ability to appeal, and the ITIA respects both their right to do so, and the outcome.” An independent tribunal accepted Halep’s argument that she had taken contaminated supplements but said the volume she ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of roxadustat found in her positive sample.