Simona Halep has sued the Canadian food company Schinoussa Superfood after she was suspended for four years due to anti-doping violations.
The former World No. 1 was hit with a provisional suspension back in October 2022 after she tested positive for the banned substance roxadustat. The 31-year-old claimed that she never knowingly doped and that the substance came from contaminated dietary supplements from the food company.
Now it has been revealed that Halep is suing the company and requesting compensation from them.
"We sued the Canadian company, I think a month or so ago. The lawsuit can only be one of compensation and has no implications in the sports file," her lawyer Bogdan Stoica told euronews.ro.
Halep allegedly suing for millions of dollars
Halep's lawyer did not disclose how much Halep was suing the company for, but ProSport reported that the amount is over 10 million dollars. Before her doping controversy began last year, the Romanian player was -the fourth-highest-earning player on the
WTA Tour.
In 2020, she collected $4 million in sponsors alone, as well as picking up $6.9 million in prize money as one of the WTA's highest-ranked players. This added up to total earnings of $10.9 million that year. Throughout her career, Halep has earned $40.2 million in tournament prize money, putting her third on the all-time list of women players behind Serena and Venus Williams.
Halep has two Grand Slam titles to her name, having won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019. She also finished as the year-end World No. 1 in 2017 and 2019.
While the court at Halep's hearing, which was held this summer, accepted her argument that she took contaminated dietary supplements, they also said that the volume consumed by the player was not sufficient to explain the concentration of roxadustat found in the positive sample.
Halep has confirmed that she will appeal the decision to suspend her from the sport for four years, saying she was 'shocked and disappointed' by the verdict.