The ITIA Report on Simona Halep

[ti-amie]

It is 126 pages long. Here's the TLDR

On Halep: ITIA wanted 6 year ban and dq of all results 2022 and after.
Report says there is possibility of manipulation of results in 2014 & 2019 but data is unavailable
She would have had to take 5,000 times the recommended dosage of 10g of MCT for her to have the amount of Roxadustat found in her sample
Her expert Dr Alvarez said “you don’t need oxygen for tennis”

People are still making their way through it.

[ti-amie]

Tribunal suspected that Halep was blood doping at last year’s Wimbledon
Lack of blood tests meant panel could not be sure of suspicions
Romanian has vowed to ‘clear my name’ after four-year ban

Sean Ingle

The independent tribunal that banned Simona Halep for four years for doping had “strong grounds for suspicion” that the Romanian was also blood doping at last year’s Wimbledon, its newly published 125-page decision reveals. However, it could not be “comfortably satisfied” that was the case as the 31-year-old did not have any blood tests between April and September 2022.

On Tuesday the former world No 1 was found to have intentionally taken the banned blood‑doping agent roxadustat after a test at the 2022 US Open in August. Separately, an expert panel also found that Halep had abnormalities in her athlete biological passport after an analysis of 51 of her blood samples.

However the full decision, released on Thursday, reveals that the International Tennis Integrity Agency pushed for a more severe punishment and believed that she had blood doped from at least March 2022 in preparation for Wimbledon and the US Open that year.

In response the panel stated: “A key allegation by the ITIA on aggravating circumstances is that the player must have been using one prohibited substance or prohibited method from March 2022 at the latest. However, although there are strong grounds for suspicion we are not comfortably satisfied that this is so.

“By contrast with their opinion relating to August 2022 and the US Open, there is no unequivocal assertion by the expert panel that the blood doping by the player was ‘highly likely’. The same applies to the allegation of blood doping in connection with the Wimbledon championships in June/July 2022… There is a period from 27 April to 22 September for which the player’s blood values are unknown.”

Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon a year later, insists she will fight the decision at the court of arbitration for sport after pleading her innocence. In a statement she said: “I am continuing to train and do everything in my power to clear my name of these false allegations.”

Meanwhile the full decision into Halep’s case also states that the panel believed it was “not realistically possible” that the levels of roxadustat in her body could have come from a Keto MCT supplement, as the Romanian had alleged.

While accepting that the supplement may have been tainted, something that experts disagreed over, it said that the levels in her body meant that she must have ingested roxadustat from “another source never identified”.

As part of the case, a woman of a similar height and stature was given the same amount of Keto MCT as Halep before her positive test. However the control study found that the values of the banned drug in Halep’s urine test were between “46 and 85 times higher” than in the highest value of the volunteer’s urine. [

One expert told the tribunal that Halep would have needed to take between 900 and 5,000 times the recommended serving size of Keto MCT to produce the estimated concentrations of roxadustat in her sample, based on the player’s explanation and what was known about the metabolism of the drug. “He did not consider that plausible, or in line with what the player says she ingested,” the report states.

The full verdict also reveals that Halep did not disclose the Keto MCT supplement on her doping control form for her urine test on 29 August 2022 or mention it in her 26 October 2022 interview with the ITIA. /b]

“In cross-examination at the June hearing, she said that for the DCF she had forgotten and that at the interview she had also probably just forgotten,” the report states. “That was distinctly careless of her, especially at the interview when the need for complete openness would have been even more apparent.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... -wimbledon

[ti-amie]

She's done and I don't say that with any joy. This is bad for tennis, for women's tennis in particular, and for those I believe she deceived and have been out front trying to cover for her. As I said, and this report confirms, it was not an accidental ingestion of roxadustat.

She should have any prize money and titles taken away from her won during the period they can confirm.

[ti-amie]

Tennis journalists are being caught flat footed with the release of the report.

Jon Wertheim

@jon_wertheim
Four years is brutal for a first time offense… was talking to a recent No.1 yesterday who suggests a warning and a fine for a 1x contamination offense…But ths is what happens in the absence of a proper union…

And some players

Vansh
@vanshv2k
·
18h
Maria Sakkari spoke in her post match press after her R16 win at the San Diego Open about the doping procedures & the player communications with regards to the testing protocol. Called the Whereabouts app “horrible”. Credit to @womenstennis and @FollowTTours for the questions.

Christopher Clarey
@christophclarey
"It's scary. We're going to get to the point where we're not even taking electrolytes. That's how I feel"

To be fair Clarey is quoting Sakkari.

[meganfernandez]

Isn't the philosophy behind the testing that you only have to test positive ONCE? It is not "Oh, you have tested positive for Roxywhatnot for six months now, we have to ban you". It is just like this. It makes no difference if she tested negative 20 times before, and 20 times after. The thing is she tested positive once.
That is all that is needed.
And I feel sorry, because I really like her, but if she indeed tested positive, go by the book.

Accidents, like non-intentional use and contamination, can be punished with just a reprimand or a suspension of up to 2 years, instead of a 4-year suspension for intentional use. There might be other carve-outs, not sure yet.

The unanswered question, which I'm sure is answered deep in the ITIA's full report just released today, is why they don't buy Halep's story that she took it accidentally from a contaminated collagen supplement. I've skimmed 50 of the 126 pages, and so far it's just a matter of conflicting expert testimony. The ITIA's scientist tested the supposedly contaminated supplement and said it didn't have Roxadustat. Halep's two scientists said it did and said the ITIA's result was a false negative.

ITIA's investigation into the manufacture of the supplement (exactly where it was made and the source of the ingredients) found contamination unlikely. I haven't read Halep's rebuttal to that. So they think she ingested it some other way than a contaminated collagen pill.

One of Halep's scientists also said her hair sample showed the faintest amount of Roxadustat, consistent with contamination, and if she had taken it to improve performance it should have been a lot higher. He said someone who is prescribed Roxadustat has 100X the level in their hair sample.

[meganfernandez]

My favorite part of the report is that they said Cahill has "coached some tip-top players."

And there's an Elle Woods moment when Halep says straightening and dying her hair diluted the concentration of Roxadustat in her hair sample by spreading it out along the full strand, which was meaningful somehow.

[ti-amie]

Isn't the philosophy behind the testing that you only have to test positive ONCE? It is not "Oh, you have tested positive for Roxywhatnot for six months now, we have to ban you". It is just like this. It makes no difference if she tested negative 20 times before, and 20 times after. The thing is she tested positive once.
That is all that is needed.
And I feel sorry, because I really like her, but if she indeed tested positive, go by the book.

Accidents, like non-intentional use and contamination, can be punished with just a reprimand or a suspension of up to 2 years, instead of a 4-year suspension for intentional use. There might be other carve-outs, not sure yet.

The unanswered question, which I'm sure is answered deep in the ITIA's full report just released today, is why they don't buy Halep's story that she took it accidentally from a contaminated collagen supplement. I've skimmed 50 of the 126 pages, and so far it's just a matter of conflicting expert testimony. The ITIA's scientist tested the supposedly contaminated supplement and said it didn't have Roxadustat. Halep's two scientists said it did and said the ITIA's result was a false negative.

ITIA's investigation into the manufacture of the supplement (exactly where it was made and the source of the ingredients) found contamination unlikely. I haven't read Halep's rebuttal to that. So they think she ingested it some other way than a contaminated collagen pill.

One of Halep's scientists also said her hair sample showed the faintest amount of Roxadustat, consistent with contamination, and if she had taken it to improve performance it should have been a lot higher. He said someone who is prescribed Roxadustat has 100X the level in their hair sample.

Quoted from the report via the Guardian article.

One expert told the tribunal that Halep would have needed to take between 900 and 5,000 times the recommended serving size of Keto MCT to produce the estimated concentrations of roxadustat in her sample, based on the player’s explanation and what was known about the metabolism of the drug. “He did not consider that plausible, or in line with what the player says she ingested,” the report states.

The same "expert" you mention said that oxygen isn't needed to play tennis.

ETA: He's also the one who blamed Pamela for Gasquet's positive coke test.

[ponchi101]

Tennis journalists are being caught flat footed with the release of the report.

Jon Wertheim

@jon_wertheim
Four years is brutal for a first time offense… was talking to a recent No.1 yesterday who suggests a warning and a fine for a 1x contamination offense…But ths is what happens in the absence of a proper union…

And some players

Vansh
@vanshv2k
·
18h
Maria Sakkari spoke in her post match press after her R16 win at the San Diego Open about the doping procedures & the player communications with regards to the testing protocol. Called the Whereabouts app “horrible”. Credit to @womenstennis and @FollowTTours for the questions.

Christopher Clarey
@christophclarey
"It's scary. We're going to get to the point where we're not even taking electrolytes. That's how I feel"

To be fair Clarey is quoting Sakkari.

Agree that the players, both tours, have to sit down and come up with a "proper system" for testing.
But the idea that because the player is a first offender s/he should get only a warning is dubious. Let's say somebody really comes up with a super drug. Well, take it, win Wimbledon, and if you get caught, get the warning and keep the glory.

[meganfernandez]

Tennis journalists are being caught flat footed with the release of the report.

Jon Wertheim

@jon_wertheim
Four years is brutal for a first time offense… was talking to a recent No.1 yesterday who suggests a warning and a fine for a 1x contamination offense…But ths is what happens in the absence of a proper union…

And some players

Vansh
@vanshv2k
·
18h
Maria Sakkari spoke in her post match press after her R16 win at the San Diego Open about the doping procedures & the player communications with regards to the testing protocol. Called the Whereabouts app “horrible”. Credit to @womenstennis and @FollowTTours for the questions.

Christopher Clarey
@christophclarey
"It's scary. We're going to get to the point where we're not even taking electrolytes. That's how I feel"

To be fair Clarey is quoting Sakkari.

Agree that the players, both tours, have to sit down and come up with a "proper system" for testing.
But the idea that because the player is a first offender s/he should get only a warning is dubious. Let's say somebody really comes up with a super drug. Well, take it, win Wimbledon, and if you get caught, get the warning and keep the glory.

It would depend on the nature of the offense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[meganfernandez]

Isn't the philosophy behind the testing that you only have to test positive ONCE? It is not "Oh, you have tested positive for Roxywhatnot for six months now, we have to ban you". It is just like this. It makes no difference if she tested negative 20 times before, and 20 times after. The thing is she tested positive once.
That is all that is needed.
And I feel sorry, because I really like her, but if she indeed tested positive, go by the book.

Accidents, like non-intentional use and contamination, can be punished with just a reprimand or a suspension of up to 2 years, instead of a 4-year suspension for intentional use. There might be other carve-outs, not sure yet.

The unanswered question, which I'm sure is answered deep in the ITIA's full report just released today, is why they don't buy Halep's story that she took it accidentally from a contaminated collagen supplement. I've skimmed 50 of the 126 pages, and so far it's just a matter of conflicting expert testimony. The ITIA's scientist tested the supposedly contaminated supplement and said it didn't have Roxadustat. Halep's two scientists said it did and said the ITIA's result was a false negative.

ITIA's investigation into the manufacture of the supplement (exactly where it was made and the source of the ingredients) found contamination unlikely. I haven't read Halep's rebuttal to that. So they think she ingested it some other way than a contaminated collagen pill.

One of Halep's scientists also said her hair sample showed the faintest amount of Roxadustat, consistent with contamination, and if she had taken it to improve performance it should have been a lot higher. He said someone who is prescribed Roxadustat has 100X the level in their hair sample.

Quoted from the report via the Guardian article.

One expert told the tribunal that Halep would have needed to take between 900 and 5,000 times the recommended serving size of Keto MCT to produce the estimated concentrations of roxadustat in her sample, based on the player’s explanation and what was known about the metabolism of the drug. “He did not consider that plausible, or in line with what the player says she ingested,” the report states.

The same "expert" you mention said that oxygen isn't needed to play tennis.

ETA: He's also the one who blamed Pamela for Gasquet's positive coke test.

I’d need more context to believe the head of toxicology at a French medical school has no credibility, and that L’Equipe would present him as a credible source if he is a quack.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ponchi101]

...

Agree that the players, both tours, have to sit down and come up with a "proper system" for testing.
But the idea that because the player is a first offender s/he should get only a warning is dubious. Let's say somebody really comes up with a super drug. Well, take it, win Wimbledon, and if you get caught, get the warning and keep the glory.

It would depend on the nature of the offense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But we are talking here about doping, nothing more.
The ATP has shown, in the past, that "warnings" are a proper arrangement. Kyrgios got his suspended suspension after his incident with Wawrinka, Zverev too after the incident in Mexico. So it is not as if they run a "one strike and you are out" system.
For doping, the organizations go above the tours' regulations. So, one doping offense, and you get some sort of sanction. But never just a warning.

[ti-amie]

Tennis journalists are being caught flat footed with the release of the report.

Jon Wertheim

@jon_wertheim
Four years is brutal for a first time offense… was talking to a recent No.1 yesterday who suggests a warning and a fine for a 1x contamination offense…But ths is what happens in the absence of a proper union…

And some players

Vansh
@vanshv2k
·
18h
Maria Sakkari spoke in her post match press after her R16 win at the San Diego Open about the doping procedures & the player communications with regards to the testing protocol. Called the Whereabouts app “horrible”. Credit to @womenstennis and @FollowTTours for the questions.

Christopher Clarey
@christophclarey
"It's scary. We're going to get to the point where we're not even taking electrolytes. That's how I feel"

To be fair Clarey is quoting Sakkari.

Wertheim has deleted the above tweet.

Jon Wertheim

@jon_wertheim
·
9h
This is worth the read…you weigh in on guilt/innocence at your peril. But suffice to say the Halep defense team has its work cut out for it….

International Tennis Integrity Agency
@itia_tennis
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has published the full decision of the independent tribunal in the case of Simona Halep.

https://www.itia.tennis/news/sanctions/ ... ona-halep/

[JTContinental]

What people seem to be avoiding saying (but I’m reading between the lines)that while this may be a “first offense” in terms of being caught, it seems like she was doping for years, including the most successful part of her career.

[skatingfan]

But we are talking here about doping, nothing more.
The ATP has shown, in the past, that "warnings" are a proper arrangement. Kyrgios got his suspended suspension after his incident with Wawrinka, Zverev too after the incident in Mexico. So it is not as if they run a "one strike and you are out" system.
For doping, the organizations go above the tours' regulations. So, one doping offense, and you get some sort of sanction. But never just a warning.

The issue with this is that tennis is in the Olympics, and the players want to be there (or at least most of them do). As long as tennis is an Olympic eligible sport the athletes have to follow the same procedures, and repercussions as other potential Olympic athletes.

[meganfernandez]

What people seem to be avoiding saying (but I’m reading between the lines)that while this may be a “first offense” in terms of being caught, it seems like she was doping for years, including the most successful part of her career.

Then why didn’t she ever test positive until once in Aug 2022 and also not afterward? 200 negative tests, 1 positive test. Is the testing that bad? Is it that easy to evade with timing? If so, the system doesn’t work at all.