Cathal Kelly, a columnist for the Canadian edition of The Globe and Mail, believes that “doping in sports continues unconditionally”, also referring to the case of Simona Halep.

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Cathal Kelly, Canadian columnist: “They’re checking like they care, but they’re not pulling the net. Those who fight can be freed”

“Don’t ask too much and don’t worry too much. Doping continues without shame,” is the title of Kelly’s editorial.

“Last year, the NFL suspended eight players for anti-doping policy violations. The league does not say what substances those players tested positive for. In many cases, it is assumed that it is marijuana. None of those suspensions lasted more than six games. None made it into the real news.

Have you watched any NFL games lately? Did you realize that of the 275 pound men who run like sprinters, only 0.5% of them use any illegal substances?

It doesn’t make sense. But the NFL found a way around this problem. Don’t ask for too much and no one will care if you do. In hockey, baseball, basketball, football – all sports that bring in big money – a similar regime has been established.

Other sports that can be called Olympic continue to add a new level to this masquerade. They check like they don’t care, but they don’t pull the net. Those who fight can be freed” – Cathal Kellyquoted by News.ro.

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Simona Halep, the pole star athlete Brian Harris, who tested positive for ligandrol

Kelly says Simona Halep is now the “polar star” of Brian Harris’ recent positive curler test.

“She mysteriously disappeared at the recent Tournament of Worms in Scott. Now everyone knows the reason (although everyone already guessed). Harris reportedly tested positive for a muscle-enhancing substance called ligandrol. She was temporarily disqualified for four years. Harris told the CBC on Wednesday that no, but that he may have come into contact with the substance through “body contact.”

Secrecy in sports can turn a story officials and athletes don’t want to tell into a story everyone is eager to hear.

The first clue that none of this will work is the length of the suspension. Four years is what you get for armed robbery. In sporting terms, that’s half a career,” Kelly adds, before turning to the case of Simona Halep.

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Cathal Kelly on the case of Simona Halep: “CAS did not exonerate her”

The Canadian writes that Halep did what she was disqualified for, but TAS considered that the Romanian learned her lesson and reduced her disqualification.

• “Former world number 1 tennis player Simona Halep has been banned for four years. Her sins are a positive test for a prohibited stimulant and violations in the anti-doping passport, which suggested forgery. Like anyone else in this situation, Halep wasn’t just upset. She was outraged.

• Has there ever been an athlete who, when caught, can raise his hand and say, “I was given a bunch of pills and I took them. So who knows?” Because that would be much closer to the truth.

• Once caught, every athlete is cleaner than clean. They all talk about getting baptized when they walk past the cold and flu section of their local pharmacy. Harris took this path with CBC, using her aversion to Tylenol and Advil as an example.

• Halep is now her polar star. The Romanian tennis player filed an appeal. A week ago, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced his sentence to nine months – coincidentally, the term he has already served.

• Halep and her team called it a victory, but TAS was nowhere near living up to it. Instead, CAS ruled that she did not intend to take the substance she was caught taking and accepted that she had no intention of competing after providing the blood sample. In other words, Halep did whatever led to her suspension. But those responsible believed that he had learned his lesson, and reduced his sentence.

• So why suspend it for four years at all? The only plausible explanation is that this way Halep and all the colleagues who follow her case can be scared.

• Everyone is looking for a small advantage – even those limits that do not exist. At the same time, when she accidentally used banned substances, Halep was falling in the world ranking. this is Kelly’s take on Halep’s case.

Doping in sports – a million reasons and a million excuses

Cathal Kelly points out that for a long time there were a million reasons why a top pro would dope, and now there are a million more excuses: “I mixed up my medication,” “I ate a bad burrito,” “I had sex with someone who was high.”

“If you’re going to take one, you better take them all. The only way to a truly tough drug regime is zero tolerance. Again, this is what I’ve tried in the real world. It didn’t work. It doesn’t work in sports either. Sport knows it, but cannot say it out loud.

Tennis, curling and others went even further. He continues to argue that the goal is a level playing field. That no one, anywhere in the world should use drugs, even those who do.

Since they do not have the power to make their own sanctions last, their only weapon in this fight is shame. Every time you watch one of these pantomimes through its eternal progression – humiliation; denial; negotiation; dismissal – do you think that any of the participants are ashamed?” – Cathal Kelly.

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About the doping case of Simona Halep

• 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).

• Halep was heard at the CAS on February 7-9, 2024.

• TAS reduced Simona Halep’s sentence from 4 years to 9 months.

• On August 29, 2022, Simona Halep played her last official match on the world circuit. 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).