The appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) involved two separate allegations, according to the Tribunal, an international body based in Lausanne, Switzerland, which was established in 1984 to resolve sports disputes through arbitration.

1. An allegation arising out of the detection of a prohibited substance (Roxadustat) being detected in a urine sample collected from Simona Halep on 29 August 2022 during the US Open. 

2. An allegation that Ms Halep's Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), in particular a blood sample provided by Ms Halep on 22 September 2022, established the use of a prohibited substance and/or a prohibited method. 

In its decision of 22 September 2023, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Independent Tribunal found Ms Halep guilty of both Anti-Doping Rule Violations and imposed a four-year period of Ineligibility. 

In Simona Halep's appeal to CAS against the first instance decision, Ms Halep requested that the sanction be reduced and not exceed the period of the provisional suspension already served. In its separate appeal, the ITIA requested that CAS sanction Ms Halep's ADRVs together as a single violation, based on the violation that carried the most severe sanction, and impose a period of ineligibility of between four and six years. 

The CAS Appeal Arbitration Proceeding involved an intensive pre-hearing process and a three-day hearing held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 7 to 9 February 2024. The panel heard from numerous lay and expert witnesses, most of whom attended the hearing in person. The panel has unanimously decided that the four-year suspension imposed by the ITF Independent Tribunal should be reduced to a period of nine months from 7 October 2022, which expired on 6 July 2023. 

As this period expired before an appeal was lodged with CAS, the CAS Panel considered it appropriate to issue the operative part of the Arbitral Award as soon as practicable, together with a comprehensive media release. 

The CAS Panel has also ordered the disqualification of all of Ms Halep's competition results from 29 August 2022 (the date of her positive sample) until 7 October 2022, including the forfeiture of all medals, titles, ranking points and prize money. Therefore, the appeal filed by the ITIA is dismissed and the appeal brought by Simona Halep is partially upheld (her request for the start of the period of Ineligibility to be backdated to 29 August 2022 is rejected).

Roxadustat charge:

According to Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme ("TADP"), it is the responsibility of each player to ensure that no Prohibited Substance enters his/her body and players are responsible for any Prohibited Substance found to be present in their samples. 

In this matter, a Prohibited Substance (i.e. Roxadustat) was found to be present in a sample collected from Ms. Halep on 29 August 2022 during the US Open. Ms Halep did not contest liability as she accepted that she had committed anti-doping rule violations under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the TADP as a result of the presence of Roxadustat in her Sample. However, she disputed the intentional nature of the violation and argued that the positive test was the result of contamination. 

Having carefully considered all of the evidence presented, the CAS Panel found that Ms. Halep had established on a balance of probabilities, that the Roxadustat entered her system through the consumption of a contaminated dietary supplement that she had taken in the days immediately preceding 29 August 2022 and that the Roxadustat detected in her Sample originated from that contaminated product. 

As a result, the CAS Panel found that Ms. Halep had also established on a balance of probabilities, that her anti-doping rule violations were not intentional. Although the CAS Panel found that Ms. Halep bore some fault or negligence for her violations by failing to exercise due care in her use of the Keto-MCT supplement, it concluded that she did not bear significant fault or negligence.

Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) charge:

In relation to the charge concerning Ms Halep's ABP, the ITIA had the burden of proving (to a reasonable standard) that Ms. Halep had used a prohibited substance and/or a prohibited method. It relied primarily on a blood sample provided by Ms. Halep on 22 September 2022, the results of which it claimed demonstrated the anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.2 of the TADP. 

Contrary to the reasoning of the first instance tribunal, the CAS Panel determined that it was appropriate in the circumstances to consider the results of a private blood sample given by Ms. Halep on 9 September 2022 in connection with an operation that occurred shortly thereafter. 

These results, together with Ms Halep's public statements that she did not intend to compete for the remainder of the 2022 calendar year, affected the plausibility of the doping scenarios relied upon by the ITF Independent Tribunal. Having considered the evidence as a whole, the CAS Panel was not satisfied that there had been an anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.2. of the TADP had occurred. It therefore dismissed this charge.

The CAS Panel has issued the following decision: 

1. The appeal filed by Simona Halep on 28 September 2023 against the decision of the ITF Independent Tribunal of 22 September 2023 is admissible and is partially upheld. 

2. The appeal lodged by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on 14 December 2023 against the decision of the ITF Independent Tribunal of 22 September 2023 is admissible and is dismissed. 

3. The decision of the ITF Independent Tribunal of 22 September 2023 is overturned. 

4. Simona Halep is found to have committed Anti-Doping Rule Violations under Articles 2.1 (presence) and 2.2 (use) of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme 2022 for the presence of a Prohibited Substance (Roxadustat) in her In-Competition urine sample collected on 29 August 2022. 

5. Simona Halep is sanctioned with a period of Ineligibility of nine months from 7 October 2022. 

6. Simona Halep shall receive credit for the period of provisional suspension she has served since 7 October 2022. 

7. All results obtained by Simona Halep in competitions held during the period from 29 August 2022 to 7 October 2022 are disqualified, with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, ranking points and prize money. 

8. The award is made without costs, except for the Court Office fees of CHF 1,000 (one thousand Swiss francs) each to be paid by Simona Halep in respect of her appeal and by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in respect of its appeal, which shall be retained by CAS. 

9. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) is ordered to pay to Simona Halep an amount of CHF 20,000 (€20,852) as a contribution towards her legal fees and other costs incurred in connection with this arbitration. 

The reasoned award will be communicated to the parties in due course and it will be made public by CAS unless the parties request confidentiality.