Simona Halep says she 'can't wait' to get back to playing professional tennis after her doping ban was reduced to nine months.
The former World No 1 was initially slapped with a four-year ban but is now free to return to playing after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Halep had tested positive for Roxadustat, a banned substance that stimulates the production of red blood cells, at the US Open in 2022.
The 32-year-old Romanian was also later charged in May 2023 with irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) but this charge has now been cleared.
Simona Halep is excited to return to tennis after her doping ban was reduced
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After being given a provisional suspension in October 2022, she was given a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency last September, which she appealed the length of in October 2023.
And the CAS Panel has ruled in her favour, deciding to reduce the ban to nine months.
Halep has not played professionally since the US Open in 2022 and she has therefore already served her suspension.
She has always maintained her innocence throughout the process and is pleased to have finally reached an outcome where 'the truth prevailed' after 'outrageous allegations'.
Halep is free to play immediately and she is looking forward to returning to the WTA Tour.
She said in a statement: "Throughout this long and difficult process, I have maintained my belief that the truth will eventually come out and that a fair decision will be reached because I am and always have been a clean athlete.
"My faith in this process has been tested by the outrageous allegations that have been brought against me and the seemingly unlimited resources that have been aligned against me.
"But in the end, the truth prevailed, even if it took a lot longer than I would have liked.
"I would like to thank my lawyers who stood by me and believed in me from the beginning; and most importantly, I want to thank my sponsors, fans and competitors who have stuck by me through this long and difficult process.
"I can't wait to get back on the circuit."
The statement from the CAS said that Halep 'on the balance of probabilities' had not purposely taken the banned substance Roxadustat.
It went on to say that she 'did bear some level of fault or negligence for her violations' but that it was not intentional.
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Simona Halep is free to play immediately after her doping ban was reduced
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Part of the statement reads: "Having carefully considered all the evidence put before it, the CAS panel determined that Ms Halep had established, on the balance of probabilities, that the Roxadustat entered her body through the consumption of a contaminated supplement which she had used in the days shortly before August 29, 2022.
"The Roxadustat, as detected in her sample, came from that contaminated product.
"As a result, the CAS Panel determined that Ms. Halep had also established, on the balance of probabilities, that her anti-doping rule violations were not intentional.
Simona Halep won the French Open in 2018, the first Grand Slam in her career
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"Although the CAS Panel found that Ms. Halep did bear some level of fault or negligence for her violations, as she did not exercise sufficient care when using the Keto MCT supplement, it concluded that she bore no significant fault or negligence."
Halep may hope to compete at the French Open in May, which is the first Grand Slam she won in her career in 2018.
She was first crowned world No 1 in 2017 and won her first Wimbledon title in 2019.
