‘It’s not fair’: Simona Halep unhappy over delayed doping hearing

Simona Halep has criticised tennis’s anti-doping bodies for repeatedly delaying her independent tribunal hearing and not allowing her the chance to defend herself against a rule violation.

Halep, a two-time grand slam champion and former world No 1, has been provisionally suspended since August after testing positive for the drug Roxadustat following her US Open first-round loss. Roxadustat is primarily an anti-anaemia medicine that catalyses red blood cell creation in the body. Halep denies knowingly taking the banned substance.

According to Halep, her hearing was initially scheduled for 28 February, which gave her hope that she would know whether or not she could compete at Indian Wells. Anti-doping tests have been administered by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) since 2022 but Halep appeared to indicate that her case is under the remit of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Speaking publicly for the first time since announcing she had received the anti-doping rule violation, Halep said that the February hearing was eventually postponed to 24 March as the ITF required more time for additional testing, but the subsequent date was also postponed. Halep’s tribunal hearing is now scheduled for 28 May, the first day of the French Open.

“The next step is a hearing at the end of May, the 28th, but it is very fragile because the ITF said that they might cancel it as well,” she said. “If they do that, it will be almost eight months since I’ve been provisionally suspended for the first time and I believe that it’s not fair to spend eight months without even being judged by the tribunal.

“Emotionally, the whole period has not been easy and I just felt the need to speak out loud to my fans, to my supporters,