Simona Halep was cleared today to return to tennis with her four-year ban being reduced to nine months after her appeal went through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. She initially tested positive for Roxudustat in September 2022, but having already been out for close to two years, she has served the time allocated. She is now free immediately to play again, but there has been mixed reaction.
Some have reacted negatively in particular to how Halep had her ban which was seemingly thought out by the ITIA at the time suddenly reduced so considerably with the former World No.1 initially having two breaches including one for irregularities in her ABP (Athlete Biological Passport).
"Tennis is a joke. At this point just let everybody dope because there’s no standards," one fan wrote. "She’s guilty but we are gonna reduce her sentence. No proper justification provided for her blood passport abnormalities & as to why the levels of roxadustat found in her urine was higher than what could’ve been caused by any potential contamination found in the supplement," another wrote who called it a sad day for the integrity of tennis.
David Law who is part of the prominent platform, The Tennis Podcast also commented himself saying that the integrity has to be called into question. "When an anti-doping authority punishes for 4 years (and wanted more), and the Court of Arbitration is assessing it as a 9-month offence, doesn’t do a lot for your faith in the system." Some also cited Mikael Ymer who abruptly retired after being banned from tennis for 18 months due to missing tests and that one rule isn't followed by all in this case.
"She doped. Lance Armstrong would be proud. Pathetic," another wrote with the joy being bore by Halep and some of the tennis world not shared by others. Others called for Patrick Mouratoglou who bore fault for the supplement being given to her in the first place to get banned.
Mouratoglou has made some uneasy by the fact that this case has been ongoing and he has returned to coach Holger Rune after their relationship ended abruptly last year in the time that Halep was out.
