Simona Halep was listened to on TAS for three days, but Pompiliu Popescu does not believe in her return to the tennis court. The former doctor of the Romanian national football team spoke about the double Grand Slam winner’s mistake and compared her case to that of Adrian Mutu.

>> The former doctor of the Romanian national team, the harsh sentence in the case of Simona Halep: “If TAS acquits her, everything related to anti-doping should be canceled”

“It’s one thing to use drugs to steal a race, it’s another thing to use drugs for pleasure,” says doctor Pompiliu Popescu

Popescu, the doctor of the national team of Romania during the “Golden Generation”, believes that Halep should not be forgiven by TAS, since she “did not declare what substances she took”, unlike Adrian Mutu (and the former footballer tested positive for banned substances).

“I don’t like to pick the cherry, to say that we are Romanians. Truth! She didn’t know what it was called, but she took it, it was in her body. A doping sanction requires that a prohibited substance be present in the body of the player concerned. This is confidence. The only parameter by which it is evaluated.

It doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not. It was also not counted on TAS. It is up to the three judges whether they will take WADA provisions into account. If we take into account that this substance should not be in the player’s body, then the rest does not matter. That Muratoglu gave it to him, I don’t know who gave it to him…

TAS will judge by the laboratory sample, this is the main element, the only one that dictates. Maybe they will reduce his term, create leniency, I don’t know what interests TAS will have to give lower sentences than what the relevant federation gives, that is the right sentence.

She made a big mistake, and her staff, I invited her to the team then. When the sample was taken, she did not specify which substances she had taken. You must do this, declare which substances you used.

I had no relationship with Adrian Mutu, there was no overlapping period with the national team. He confessed because he has character, maybe someone advised him.

He came out of football with his head held high, he took doping for his pleasure, for his pleasure. It’s one thing doping to steal at competitions, another thing – for pleasure” – Pompiliu Popescuformer doctor of the Romanian national team, reports AS.ro.

Other materials about the hearing of Simona Halep from TAS:

>> Simona Halep, annoyed by reporters after returning to the country: “Is all this madness necessary, right?”

>> The American press reports when Simona Halep can get a CAS verdict

>> PHOTOS of Simona Halep, first post after three days of TAS hearings – post by Darren Cahill

>> Simona Halep’s lawyer, the first words after the athlete spoke for three days in CAS

>> Simona Halep, the last day of CAS hearings – “Halep will remain with the stigma of doping for the rest of her life”

>> Simona Halep, TAS hearing – The most important details of the second day of hearings

>> Simona Halep, listening on TAS – The most important details from the first day

What you need to know about Simona Halep’s doping case

• The news that Simona Halep was temporarily suspended for doping appeared on Friday, October 21, 2022.

• Simona’s case was heard by Sport Resolutions, an independent tribunal in London that hears doping cases in white sport.

• Halep was suspended for 4 years for two separate violations of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP): the presence and use of the substance roxadustat in a urine sample collected after an anti-doping test conducted at the 2022 US Open (1) and a violation of her biological passport (2).

• Simone has only one appeal: the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

• According to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on its official website, Halep will be heard by CAS on February 7-9, 2024.

• The Swiss court said that the ex-leader of the WTA asked to cancel the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and “reduce” its sanctions.

• If the 4-year disqualification remains in force, then the ex-WTA leader can theoretically return to the tennis court on October 6, 2026. Halep will be 35 years old at that time.

• On August 29, 2022, Simona Halep played her last official match on the world stage. At the US Open, in the inaugural round, our athlete unexpectedly defeated Daria Snigur (at that time, 124th place in the WTA, based on the qualification).