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Mouratoglou Defends Halep, Calls Out ITIA for Bias

Patrick Mouratoglou is supporting Simona Halep, currently serving a provisional doping suspension, and suggests ITIA bias in the former World No. 1’s doping case. EPA-EFE/MICHAEL DODGE

Patrick Mouratoglou has seen enough.

Mouratoglou has issued his support for Simona Halep in her ongoing doping case–and condemned the International Tennis Integrity Agency for bias in the case.

“ “I truly believed the ITIA would conduct a fair investigation to establish the truth,” Mouratoglou wrote in a social media post. “The fact that I don’t have the same feeling at all now is disturbing and has finally brought me to write these few words.

“I know there is no way she would have ever done anything that would have been illegal…

“Since the day the ITIA has charged her, I have been and will continue to be next to her every single day to support her in her fight for the truth.”

Former world No. 1 Halep, who has been provisionally suspended since October 2022 after testing positive for the banned drug Roxadustat, was hit with a separate doping charge, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Friday.

“Romanian tennis player Simona Halep has been charged with a further and separate breach of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP), relating to irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP),” the ITIA announced in a statement.

The ITIA emphasized this doping violation is different and separate from the existing Roxadustat charge from August 2022 which launched Halep’s original provisional suspension.

Fighting for her competitive future, the 31-year-old Halep hit back at the charges slamming the ITIA for what she calls “harassment.” 

Halep claims she is the victim of contamination and says “three world renowned experts” have “clearly established that I have been the victim of a contamination.”

“Once again, all my life I have been totally against any sort of cheating,” Halep said. 

Mouratoglou, who has coached Halep, Serena Williams and Holger Rune among others, claims that charging Halep with “irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport” is absurd.

“The last charge that has been sent to her yesterday, which is totally linked with the first case is a pure interpretation of her blood passport,” he wrote. “In other words, the ITIA hasn’t found any illegal substance in her blood, but just states that her blood parameters are suspicious.

“Well-renowned experts who have checked on them have established that this statement is totally wrong. And a biased interpretation and that her blood parameters are perfectly normal.”