Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been charged with a second doping offence over “irregularities in her athlete organic passport”.
The Romanian, 31, has been suspended since October after testing optimistic for a banned substance on the US Open.
Her further cost is separate to the one she is already suspended for.
The athlete organic passport programme collects and compares organic knowledge to identify discrepancies over time that counsel attainable doping.
Former world primary Halep’s suspension final 12 months was imposed after she examined optimistic for roxadustat, an anti-anaemia drug which stimulates the manufacturing of purple blood cells within the physique.
The Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company (ITIA), which is liable for testing inside the sport, mentioned it will attempt to resolve the most recent case as rapidly as attainable, however didn’t point out how lengthy it will take.
Nicole Sapstead, the ITIA’s senior director for anti-doping, mentioned: “We perceive that right now’s announcement provides complexity to an already high-profile scenario.
“From the outset of this course of – and certainly some other on the ITIA – we’ve got remained dedicated to participating with Ms Halep in an empathetic, environment friendly, and well timed method.”
Halep, the 2019 Wimbledon champion, mentioned final October that “dishonest had by no means crossed” her thoughts and claims the failed check was right down to a “contaminated” complement.
In April, Halep spoke for the first time since her suspension, saying she was pissed off with the time it was taking for the case to be resolved however the ITIA mentioned “the method is ongoing”.
The investigations into failed assessments by the ITIA are sometimes a posh course of, much more so when a participant denies taking a substance knowingly.
It’s not unusual for these instances to take a number of months to be resolved.
In such instances, a participant can produce proof to both disprove or clarify the failed check, which Halep claimed she had done.
This may deliver additional investigation and testing by the ITIA, resulting in the method being additional prolonged.
Halep, who was ranked ninth when the ban got here into power, is among the highest-profile tennis gamers to fail a medication check, and probably the most outstanding since Russian five-time main champion Maria Sharapova was banned in 2016.
