Halep dismayed at how Swiatek's doping case was handled compared to her own

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Halep dismayed at how Swiatek's doping case was handled compared to her own

2024-11-29 20:33 Last Updated At：20:40

Simona Halep, the former Wimbledon and French Open champion tennis player, has expressed dismay at the way Iga Swiatek's doping case was handled compared to her own.

Halep, a 33-year-old Romanian who initially received a four-year ban for doping, said there had been severe differences in how their cases were treated by tennis authorities.

“I sit and try to understand but it is really impossible for me to understand something like this," Halep posted Friday on her Instagram account. “I sit and wonder, ‘Why such a big difference in treatment and judgment?’

"I can’t find, and I don’t think there can be, a logical answer. It can only be bad will on the part of ITIA, the organisation that did absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence."

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced on Thursday that the five-time major champion Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart medication known as TMZ.

The 23-year-old Polish player failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, and the ITIA accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional and was caused by the contamination of a nonprescription medication, melatonin, that Swiatek was taking for issues with jet lag and sleeping.

Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, received a four-year suspension after testing positive for the banned drug Roxadustat at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Her suspension was reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to nine months after CAS accepted her explanation of a contaminated supplement. But she missed 1 1/2 years of playing.

“I have always believed in good, I have believed in the fairness of this sport, I have believed in kindness," Halep wrote on Instagram. “The injustice that was done to me was painful, is painful and maybe will always be painful. How is it possible that in identical cases that happened at about the same time (of the season), ITIA has completely different approaches, to my detriment?”

Swiatek's case prompted men's tennis player Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, to post “OUR SPORT IS COOKED” on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov, ranked No. 56, posted a sarcastic-sounding “ 1 month ban eh ” on his page.

Swiatek's case follows a similar one involving Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked men's player.

Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March but was not banned in an ITIA decision because the agency determined he was not to blame.

It led to claims by some observers of a two-tier system, with critics arguing it afforded Sinner protection because of his status as a leading player.

Earlier this month, ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged there “ could have been better communication ” in explaining the rules involved in Sinner’s doping case, but refuted allegations of double standards.

The decision to clear Sinner of wrongdoing, however, was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September.

WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years and the Switzerland-based CAS is expected to make a final ruling on the case in 2025.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Protesters in Serbia hold 15-minute blockade for 15 victims of roof collapse, demanding justice

2024-11-29 20:24 Last Updated At：20:30

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protesters in Serbia stood in silence for 15 minutes on Friday for the victims of a roof collapse four weeks ago in a northern city, seeking to keep up pressure on the populist authorities to punish those responsible for the tragedy.

Traffic was blocked for a third week in a row at various spots in several Serbian cities and towns, including in the northern city of Novi Sad where the concrete outer roof at the central railway station smashed down on people on Nov. 1 without warning.

Initially 14 people died and three were injured but one more person later died in hospital.

The railway station building was renovated twice in recent years. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and opaque deals resulted in sloppy work during reconstruction and led to the collapse of the roof.

Street protests and blockades have been held almost daily since the roof crash, demanding justice. Another rally is planned on Sunday in Novi Sad to mark one month since the tragedy.

While prosecutors have announced the arrests of 13 people, a Serbian court this week released from detention former government construction minister Goran Vesic. This has fueled widespread skepticism of the ongoing investigation, as the populists control both the police and judiciary.

Serbia's authoritarian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused the protesters of being bullies and thugs who used people's deaths for political gains. Scuffles have erupted both in Serbia's parliament and during some of the recent rallies when pro-government protesters showed up to break up the opposition-led blockades.

Minor incidents were also reported during Friday's silent protest in Belgrade, the capital city. In Novi Sad, residents held a long black banner for the victims. Some people at the protests in other cities held white roses or posters with a red handprint, telling the authorities they have “blood on their hands.”

Opposition parties have repeatedly called for the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister and his government, as well as access to full documentation in the train station building and other infrastructure projects with Chinese state companies.

The station in Novi Sad was originally built in 1964. Its renovation was part of a bigger project with China and Hungary to build a high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest.