Best News Network

Halep provisionally suspended for doping offence

Two-times major winner Simona Halep of Romania has been provisionally suspended from tennis after testing positive for the banned blood-booster roxadustat.

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep.

Simona Halep
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Halep, ranked ninth in the world, was tested during the U.S. Open and both her A and B samples confirmed the presence of roxadustat, an anti-anaemia drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells much like the prohibited substance Erythropoietin (EPO).

“Simona Halep, a 31-year-old Romanian tennis player, has been provisionally suspended under Article 7.12.1 of the 2022 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP),” the International Tennis Federation said in a statement.

“The sample was split into A and B samples and the subsequent analysis found that the A sample contained FG-4592 (Roxadustat), which is a prohibited substance listed in the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.”

The 2019 Wimbledon champion later requested for her B sample to be analysed, which confirmed the initial findings.

Former world number one Halep described the ban as the “biggest shock of her life” and denied knowingly taking any banned substance.

“Today begins the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth. I have been notified that I have tested positive for a substance called Roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, she wrote on Twitter.

“Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.”

Halep, who also won at Roland Garros in 2018, added that her fight was not about “titles or money” but her honour and she hoped that the truth would eventually come out.

Maria Sharapova was the last high-profile tennis player to be involved in a doping scandal after the Russian tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open and was initially banned for two years before it was reduced to 15 months.

Halep’s suspension means that she cannot compete in or attend any sanctioned events organised by the governing bodies of the tennis.

Halep, the winner of two titles this season, ended her season early after undergoing nose surgery last month to treat breathing difficulties.

-Reuters

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Sports News Click Here 

 For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.