A few days ago, Ion Cyriac, present at a sports gala, launched a brutal attack on a laboratory in Romania that allegedly “mishandled” Simona Halep’s blood sample. The head of that laboratory defends himself and tells how it was.

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Context

• On February 14, after the sports gala, Ion Cyriak was invited to talk about the doping case involving Simona Halep.

At that moment, the businessman said, quoted by Agerpres, the following: “What can I say about Simona, that I know no more than you, because she is forbidden to speak, or she was advised not to speak.

But given that we now know that the blood sample was somewhat mishandled, let’s not call it anything else, in Romania, taken at 5:30 in the morning and it should have been minus 3 degrees three hours later, in I don’t I know what kind of laboratory… it couldn’t be allowed anywhere. Taken after all this time.”

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WADA-accredited Bucharest laboratory defends itself: “There is a double check, the requirements are strict”

In an interview for iAM Sport, Christina Stan (director of the WADA-accredited laboratory in Bucharest) talks a lot about the tests of the former WTA leader.

“Mr. Chiriac must stand by all his statements. They should also have proof of this.

The WADA requirements are very strict, and the accreditation obtained confirms the competence of the laboratory and staff to produce valid results. Everything is evaluated, from reception to equipment, to conditions, everything.

We cannot find out whose sample it is. The laboratory works with codes, not with the names of athletes. The testing body (No. ITIA) is the only competent institution.

We must be patient. All necessary data has been submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and we will receive a decision in the near future. And the justification of the decision, and then we will see who was wrong and how.

Samples are stored in cold rooms, where the temperature is monitored 24 hours a day, so everything is under supervision. The sample is accompanied by a thermometer with a date record from the moment of collection to the moment of placement in the homogenizer.

We have everything procedural, on the record, there is a double check from the reception to the notification of the results. The laboratory takes all measures to reduce the risk of error. Because you can’t reduce risk to zero, no matter how much you want to. In any case, everything is recorded” – Christina Stanthe quoted source said.

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).

• Simona exhausted her only recourse: the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

• Halep was heard at the 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).

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