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Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has questioned the “big difference” in how tennis doping cases are handled after world number two Iga Swiatek received a one-month ban.<\/b><\/p>\n
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Thursday that Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension<\/a> after testing positive for banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).<\/p>\n Halep, who was out of action for more than 18 months following two separate anti-doping violations, has criticised the ITIA for having “completely different approaches”.<\/p>\n “I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?” Halep posted on Instagram on Friday.<\/p>\n “I can’t find and I don\u2019t 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.”<\/p>\n Halep was provisionally suspended<\/a> in October 2022 after testing positive for banned substance roxadustat – an anti-anaemia drug which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the body.<\/p>\n The Romanian was later banned for four years<\/a> – a period which was reduced to nine months<\/a> in March after an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport <\/p>\n Halep always maintained her innocence and argued she had taken a contaminated supplement.<\/p>\n “I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers,” the former world number one said.<\/p>\n “How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time, ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment?”<\/p>\n Swiatek tested positive for a heart medication, TMZ, in an out-of-competition sample in August 2024, when she was world number one.<\/p>\n The ITIA accepted the five-time major winner’s violation was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin, manufactured and sold in Poland, which Swiatek took for jet lag and sleep issues.<\/p>\n An ITIA spokesperson told BBC Sport there were “very important differences” between Halep’s case and Swiatek’s.<\/p>\n “No two cases are the same, they often involve different circumstances, and direct comparisons are not always helpful,” the ITIA said.<\/p>\n “The product contaminated in Ms Swiatek’s case was a regulated medication, not a supplement.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n