Former women’s world No. 1 Simona Halep has criticized the “big difference in treatment” she received from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) compared to the body’s handling of Iga Świątek’s failed test.
On Thursday, it was announced that Świątek had accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. The ITIA said they found Świątek’s “level of fault was considered to be at the lowest end of the range for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence.’”
Halep, however, was handed a four-year ban in September 2023 after testing positive for the banned substance Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, when she was provisionally suspended.
Halep maintained the anti-doping violations were not intentional and, in March this year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed and reduced the backdated ban to nine months, clearing the two-time grand slam champion to return to the sport.
“I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?” Halep said in a post on Instagram on Friday, per Reuters. “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 organization 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.”
In a statement, the ITIA told CNN: “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.
“No two cases are the same, they often involve different circumstances, and direct comparisons are not always helpful.
“There are some very important differences in these two cases. The product contaminated in Ms Swiatek’s case was a regulated medication, not a supplement. There was agreement among independent scientific experts surrounding the facts and the player admitted the Anti-Doping Rule Violation.”
At the same time Halep was handed her ban, the ITIA also announced that Halep was being charged with having irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), which is designed to monitor an athlete’s selected biological variables over time.
CAS dismissed that charge.
Halep criticized the length of time it took authorities to process her case and slammed “the scandalous accusations that were leveled against me.”
The ITIA has already been criticized this season over the handling of Jannik Sinner’s doping case, with the men’s world No. 1 avoiding suspension despite twice testing positive for a banned substance in March 2024.
Sinner claims the failed test was due to “inadvertent contamination of Clostebol” through treatment from his physiotherapist, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced in September it was lodging an appeal with CAS.
“I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers,” Halep added in her Friday statement, per the BBC.
“How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time, ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment?”
The ITIA added: “We urge players to exercise extreme caution when taking supplements and we are always happy to answer any questions they have.”