The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne has made the final announcement in the doping case involving Simona Halep.
CAS has published the reasoning behind the decision to reduce Simona’s suspension to 9 months, thus closing this case.
In the reasoning of the decision, CAS states that Simona has demonstrated that the banned substance found in her body originated from a contaminated product, therefore she was not found guilty of a significant error or negligence. She was thus subject to a suspension of 0-24 months.
Furthermore, experts hired by Simona Halep demonstrated that blood sample number 48 from her biological passport was not properly transported. The data logger showed that the sample reached 0 degrees during transport. The acceptable temperature range was between 4 and 15 degrees Celsius. This completely ruled out the microdoping alleged by ITIA through blood transfusion.
Subsequently, a private blood sample from September 9, 2022 was also considered. It showed that "the use of a doping substance becomes unlikely because it is not in line with the athlete's competitive chronology."
On the other hand, in the case of the Keto MCT supplement, Simona fell under the scope of WADA Article 10.6.1.2, which states that the athlete takes non-WADA regulated nutritional supplements at their own risk. Our athlete argued that the supplement was new, acquired shortly, and did not contain any substances on the prohibited list.
Ultimately, CAS decided on a 9-month penalty, and Simona was able to return to the circuit.