The news came after the Italian anti-doping authorities (Nado) confirmed on Monday that Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended after a doping control detected elevated levels of testosterone.
Halep has been provisionally suspended since October last year after testing positive for the blood-boosting substance Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.
And in May the two-time Grand Slam singles champion was charged with a second anti-doping breach relating to irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP).
Both charges have been upheld by an independent tribunal.
The 31-year-old Romanian will not be able to play professional tennis again until Oct 6, 2026.
‘My fight continues’
But soon after the ITIA statement was released, Halep announced she would appeal the decision, saying: “Today (Tuesday), a tribunal under the tennis anti-doping programme announced a tentative decision in my case. The last year has been the hardest match of my life, and unfortunately my fight continues.
“I have devoted my life to the beautiful game of tennis. I take the rules that govern our sport very seriously and take pride in the fact I have never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance. I refused to accept their decision of a four-year ban. I intend to appeal to The Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
An independent tribunal, which heard evidence from Halep, the winner of the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon singles titles, met in London on June 28-29.
On Sept 11, the tribunal - which also heard evidence from scientific experts and sifted through some 8,000 pages of evidence - confirmed it had found Halep had committed intentional violations under tennis’s anti-doping programme.
One of these was the use of Roxadustat discovered in her urine sample at the 2022 US Open, with the other breach based on collection and analysis of 51 blood samples provided by Halep as part of the ABP programme.
Roxadustat is a substance that can be used legitimately to treat anaemia.
But it is also on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list as it is considered a blood-doping agent, which increases haemoglobin and the production of red blood cells.
The biological passport system is designed for the long-term monitoring of an athlete’s blood indicators with the aim of identifying irregularities that could indicate doping.
Halep has claimed experts found she had accidentally taken a contaminated supplement.
But the ITIA said yesterday that while the tribunal accepted Halep had taken a contaminated supplement, they also “determined the volume the player ingested could not have resulted in the concentration of Roxadustat found in the positive sample”.
ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse said: “After a complex and rigorous hearing process, we welcome the independent tribunal’s decision.”
She added: “The ITIA has followed the proper processes as we would with any other individual - in accordance with the world anti-doping code - fulfilling our purpose and responsibility to uphold the principle of fair competition, on behalf of the sport.
“The panel recognised that appropriate procedure had been followed within the written decision.”
Moorhouse said that, given “the significant public interest”, the full decision in Halep’s case “will be published in due course”.
Pogba provisionally suspended for doping
After a nightmare season between injuries and a blackmail affair, the 30-year-old Pogba’s dreams of bouncing back were shattered by the alleged doping offence after Juventus’s 3-0 win at Udinese on Aug 20, during which he was an unused substitute.
On Monday, the 2018 world champion had told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera of his “desire to play” after a “difficult year” which could have “destroyed” him.
Instead he received a new blow.
Nado said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the prohibited substance “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”.
Juventus said in a statement that Pogba had “received a precautionary suspension”.
“The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps,” the statement added.
The test concerns the ‘A’ sample, and if the ‘B’ sample also tests positive for testosterone Pogba could face a four-year ban.
In a message sent to AFP, Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta said she was “awaiting the second sample and cannot have an opinion before the results”.
“What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule,” she added.
‘Difficult year’
Pogba rejoined Juventus in July 2022 from Manchester United.
From 2012 to 2016 he had helped Juve win four Serie A titles and two Italian Cups, and reach the Champions League final in 2015.
Pogba had been a star player in France’s 2018 World Cup triumph but his 2022-2023 season was blighted by injury and a multi-million euro blackmail plot involving childhood friends and one of his brothers.
He played just ten games for Juventus that season and missed the 2022 World Cup with France.
Last season he played six Serie A games but had been slated for a return to action against Lazio at the weekend and said in the interview with Al Jazeera he was raring to go.
“I’ve had a difficult year so I’ve this anger and this wish to play football,” Pogba told Al Jazeera.
“The only people that can hurt you are the people close to you. Enemies you know where they are, but friends, family, that you think they’re happy for you, they can destroy you,” he said.
“You have to be careful, money change people, can break up a family,” he said of the multimillion euros extortion efforts by former friends and his own brother Mattias.
Pogba said that at times he had been deeply demotivated by the matter.
“I was just by myself thinking I don’t want to have money anymore, I don’t want to play anymore, I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me, not for the fame, not for the money,” he said.
After this latest setback Pogba now faces an anxious wait for the result of his ‘B’ test.