SUMMARY
- In a new twist to the Simona Halep doping case, she is set to sue the company that manufactured the contaminated supplement.
- The owner of the company finally broke his silence on this issue.
Romanian tennis star Simona Halep has been embroiled in a doping controversy since 2022. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found her guilty of two violations. Consequently, the ITIA handed Halep a four-year ban from professional tennis. Simona’s case has taken a lot of turns since then, with the Wimbledon champion trying to prove her innocence.
Halep tested positive for Roxadustat after crashing out of the US Open in 2022. She claimed innocence, but the irregularities in her athlete’s biological passport (ABP) proved to be her undoing. All evidence pointed towards doping, and the ITIA banned Simona. However, Halep’s team was able to trace Roxadustat to a contaminated supplement she had consumed.
The two-time Grand Slam champion appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in a last-ditch effort. The court heard her case in the first week of February. Even though the final verdict has yet to be passed, Simona has taken steps of her own. She is going to sue the company, Quantum Nutrition, which sold her the supplement contaminated with Roxadustat.
Halep sues Canadian company over supplement linked to doping suspension
NEW YORK, Feb 16 — Former world number one Simona Halep is suing the Canadian company that produced a nutritional supplement that she believes led to her being handed a four-year…https://t.co/IMNJKPV77V— Anti-Doping Database (@Dopinglist) February 16, 2024
In light of this news, the owner of the company, Kostas Koveos, finally spoke up. Koveos denied all the allegations that Halep leveled against his company. He was reluctant to speak, but he stated that if the ITIA saw it fit to ban Halep, they had a good reason for it. Koveos also rubbished Professor Alvarez’s reports, which claimed that the amount of Roxadustat found in Simona’s samples was negligent.
He did state that when the ITIA conducted tests on their samples, they did not find Roxadustat. Koveos also revealed that the company has not yet received a letter from Simona Halep’s lawyers. The case has taken a new turn, with all eyes now on Halep, who has to prove that Quantum Nutrition is responsible for her predicament.
Fans speculate how Simona Halep is going to prove the company guilty
The former world No. 1 is going to sue Quantum Nutrition. Halep is seeking $10 million in damages, plus punitive damages. However, fans wonder how exactly she is going to prove the company guilty.
The reception of the news has been varied. One user feels Halep should have checked if the product was batch-tested. Another fan thinks it is just a PR stunt at this point.
And how is she going to prove that for heavens sake.
— justine heaton (@justine_heaton) February 16, 2024
If only there were websites where she could check which products had been batch tested against wada regulations, and some sort of education available to athletes in all sports around how to check …
Oh wait.
— OJP (@OriginalJudoPod) February 16, 2024
From what I read it was also her blood passport that got her banned, so suing this company is more a PR stunt?
— Matthew Robins (@matty_robins) February 16, 2024
Simona Halep has pinned all her hopes on the CAS verdict. The Romanian is hopeful that the truth will prevail and that she will return to the courts soon. For now, she still has to wait a little longer.
