CNN
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Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, who is serving a four-year suspension for doping, is currently suing a Canadian health supplement company for more than $10 million in damages.
Halep, 32, filed a legal complaint Thursday in New York State Supreme Court, naming Quantum Nutrition, which also operates as Schinusa Superfoods, and other unnamed individuals as defendants.
The two-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for Roxadustat, a banned drug on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2022 Prohibited List, at the 2022 US Open. Ta.
According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), roxadustat is a type of drug called a HIF stabilizer that can increase an athlete’s red blood cell count and improve endurance performance.
CNN has reached out to Quantum Nutrition and Halep’s attorney for comment.
According to the complaint, Halep used Schinussa’s supplement during the 2022 U.S. Open tournament in New York. She later tested positive for roxadustat, but it is not listed on the label of her product, the documents state.
Quantum Nutrition is accused of “negligently and negligently” allowing its products to be contaminated with roxadustat, according to court documents.
The former world number one had never knowingly taken a prohibited substance and the application states that this would fall under the “level of gross negligence”.
The complaint states that Halep should be sentenced at trial for “past and future pain, suffering, humiliation,” and “loss of enjoyment of life,” as well as past and future loss of income and earning capacity. It is stated that.
The complaint states that as a result of her continued suspension, Ms. Halep has “suffered damages in excess of US$10 million.” The 32-year-old has earned more than $40 million in prize money during her career, according to the Women’s Tennis Association.
The International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) announced that Halep’s suspension is now in the past and will run from October 7, 2022 to October 6, 2026.
Halep was charged by authorities with two separate violations of the tennis anti-doping program. In addition to testing positive for roxadustat, Halep also discovered that her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), which is designed to monitor selected biological variables in athletes over time, had been compromised. was indicted for.
Halep has previously denied any wrongdoing, but said she would appeal the suspension and said she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.”
John Koveos, founder of Quantum Nutrition, made this claim during a conversation with Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail in October 2023, after reports linked the company to doping scandals. objected to.
“They needed someone to blame,” Koveos told the Globe.
Coveos told the Globe that Quantum Nutrition supplies products to “hundreds of athletes,” including Olympians, CFL players and NHL players, adding that the company provides “100 percent commitment to all of our athletes. He has a clean record and is regularly tested.”
Koveos claimed that Halep was “not the only player using that particular product on that particular day” at the tournament, but did not name any other players, the Globe reported.
Halep said in a statement after her suspension that she had adjusted her nutritional supplements for the 2022 hard court season. He said the listed ingredients did not contain any prohibited substances, but acknowledged that one of them was contaminated with roxadustat.
“After the first positive test, I was tested almost every week until early 2023, and all the results were negative,” Halep said.
