Simona Halep provisionally suspended after testing positive for banned substance
The second-ranked Simona Halep was provisionally suspended following testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.
The Romanian tennis player tested positive for an anabolic steroid at the tournament in Rotterdam, the Women’s Tennis Association said in a statement on its website on Friday.
The association said Halep informed the association about her positive result on May 25 and immediately returned to her country to “undergo treatment.”
The statement said the 29-year-old athlete had undergone random doping control tests at the end of May after meeting the required documentation.
It said Halep had met all requirements set by WTA and had shown “remarkable” improvement in her biological passport in the six weeks since her return to competition.
“The WTA and the [association] are very, very disappointed and disappointed in this situation,” the statement read.
“There is no need to speak about the fact that she has done everything and proven with all her effort, but unfortunately she was tested positive.”
Halep, who was the second-ranked seed going into her first match on Monday, had already been suspended by the WTA while she was away on a family vacation because she failed to disclose the positive test on her doping control forms, the International Tennis Federation said on its website on Thursday morning.
Halep, who moved to the United States two years ago, said she will appeal against that ruling, according to the Romanian newswire Adevarul.
The WTA’s governing body said it was “deeply disappointed” with the ruling.
“The WTA’s medical standards and procedures are based on scientific evidence and medical ethics,” the statement read.
“The WTA respects the WADA Code of Medical Ethics,
