Simona Halep unloaded on the International Tennis Integrity Agency following the Iga Swiatek doping news as the Romanian thinks the organization dealt with her case in a much different and worse way than the Pole’s.
On Thursday, it was announced that the current world No. 2 tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) and that it occured just before her Cincinnati semifinal run in August. After being notified about it in September, the five-time Grand Slam champion was handed a provisional ban and that’s why she missed the entire Asian swing.
However, Swiatek successfully appealed and was given the green light to return to action earlier this month at the WTA Finals. Now, she has accepted a one-month ban and will be able to play at the Australian Open.
On the other side, Halep ended up sidelined for 18 months after testing positive for Roxadustat, although it was later confirmed that she was a victim of a contaminated product and that there was no intention to dope. After taking her case to the CAS, the two-time Grand Slam winner had her four-year doping ban reduced to nine months and she was allowed to return to action.
“I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgement? I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organization that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence,” the Romanian tennis star wrote on Instagram.
Simona Halep© Simona Halep/X – Fair Use
Halep: I battled anxiety, sleepless nights… But I won
For a year and a half, the 33-year-old was pleading her innocence and insisting that there was no reason for her to be banned since she believed she had all the evidence needed to confirm that she didn’t knowingly or intentionally take a banned substance. But clearing her name was a long process.
Even now, Halep remains deeply hurt over everything that she went through but feels proud that she ultimately won her case.
“I believed in goodness. It was painful, is painful and maybe the injustice that was done to me will always be painful. How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment. How could I accept that the WTA and the players council did not want to return me the ranking that I deserved?! the former world No. 1 continued.
“I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers… but I won justice. It turned out that it was a contamination and that the biological passport was a pure invention. And I won something else, my soul remained clean!! I feel disappointed, I feel mad, I feel frustrated, but I do not feel evil even now.
“I am grateful for the support and unconditional love of those who have been by my side every day. THANK YOU! In all the naughtiness, I also received love because those who offered me love in those moments really knew me! Perhaps this is the biggest victory!”
The ITIA responds to Halep’s criticism of the Swiatek case
After the Romanian made it clear that she felt the ITIA issued a statement to the BBC, in which they stated that “no two cases are the same.”
In Swiatek’s case, the failed doping test didn’t come because of a supplement but because of a sleep medication that happened to have a banned substance. Also, the ITIA accepted that the 23-year-old didn’t intend to take a banned substance and that she was at the lowest range of the no fault or negligence category.
So therefore, the ITIA thought that they handled the case as needed.
“No two cases are the same, they often involve different circumstances, and direct comparisons are not always helpful. The product contaminated in Ms Swiatek’s case was a regulated medication, not a supplement. We deal with each case based on the facts and evidence, not a player’s name, ranking or nationality. When a prohibited substance is found in a player’s system, we investigate it thoroughly. We urge players to exercise extreme caution when taking supplements and we are always happy to answer any questions they have,” the ITIA said in a statement to the BBC.
Meanwhile, Swiatek said in her statement that she was “shocked” and that she “fought the toughest battle of my life.”
Tennis World USA