Simona Halep questions handling of her doping case after Iga Swiatek’s one-month ban

BUDAPEST – Simona Halep questioned the “big difference” in how doping cases are treated after world No. 2 Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month drugs ban, while the Romanian was out of action for over 18 months following two separate anti-doping violations.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Nov 28 that Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.

The Pole tested positive in August, but the ITIA, which runs tennis’ anti-doping programme, accepted that it was caused by contamination of her medication melatonin.

Halep was provisionally suspended in October 2022 and later banned for four years, a period which was reduced to nine months in March after an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

She had strongly denied knowingly taking the banned substance roxadustat and said she had evidence to show small amounts of the anaemia drug entered her system from a contaminated licensed supplement.

“I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?” she said in a post on Instagram on Nov 29.

“I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from the ITIA, the organisation that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence... It was painful, it is painful and maybe the injustice that was done to me will always be painful.”

Swiatek was provisionally suspended on Sept 12, but had it lifted on Oct 4, leaving her with just eight days of ban to serve.

Players on both tours had called out what they perceived as double standards in the sport when men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing despite failing two drug tests earlier in 2024.

An independent tribunal accepted the Italian’s explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol had entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.

Sinner could still be banned for up to two years, with the World Anti-Doping Agency appealing against the decision in his case at sport’s highest court.

Amid questions about the handling of the cases of Swiatek and Sinner, ITIA chief Karen Moorhouse said: “These aren’t cases of intentional doping. We’re dealing with inadvertent breaches of the rules. So I don’t think this is a cause for concern for tennis fans.

“The fact that we’re being clearly open, transparent, and it shows the breadth and depth of our anti-doping programme.”

The Professional Tennis Players Association, meanwhile, said that tennis needed an anti-doping system rooted in transparency, consistency and objectivity.

“Players deserve and are entitled to due process and support in navigating the anti-doping system, regardless of ranking and access to resources. (They) deserve and are entitled to governance that they trust,” it said. REUTERS