"My belief in Simona Halep is unwavering" - Former coach Darren Cahill amid Romanian's second doping allegation
Simona Halep has found support from former coach Darren Cahill amid her ongoing tussle with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) over the handling of her doping suspension.
The Romanian received bad news earlier this week as she was handed a second doping charge by the ITIA on Friday, around eight months after being initially suspended after testing positive for roxadustat.
Darren Cahill took to social media in response to a lengthy post from Halep expressing her shock over the news, reiterating his "unwavering" support for the disgruntled athlete. Cahill, who was among some of the first athletes to back Halep at the time of her initial suspension, said he stood by every word of his original statement and looked forward to the Romanian getting a fair audience with an "independent panel".
"I stand by every single word of my original statement way back in October. My belief and support of Simona is unwavering," Daren Cahill wrote on Twitter. "I look forward to her having the chance to present her case to the independent panel asap."
Notably, Halep had voiced her helplessness in view of the latest news in a social media.
"Since October 7, when I got charged by the ITIA for a suspicion of doping, I have lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life," Simona Halep had written in her note. "I feel helpless facing such harassment and a motivation on their behalf to prove me guilty of something I never did.
The Romanian said that she has been waiting for eight months to be heard — only for her hearing to be repeatedly postponed by the ITIA.
Once again, all my life I have been totally against any sort of cheating. It doesn't align with my values," she added. "The only thing I hope for, at this point, is to have the possibility to finally access the independent and impartial judges in a Tribunal, that will give me the chance to prove my innocence."
Darren Cahill's unvarring support for Simona Halep
Darren Cahill has been on Simona Halep's side ever since the news of the Romanian testing positive for roxadustat first broke. In his initial reaction, the Australian had said while his ward should pay the penalty for the slip-up, he expressed hope that she would not be handed a major penalty as he believed that she was not at fault.
He has reitrated his stance on multiple occassions since, unequivocally vouching for the Romanian.
"I released a statement when this came out about Simona and I'll be buried standing next to that statement because of her integrity and the DNA she is made of," Cahill said. "There's no way she'd ever ever cheat," he added. "She is a great woman and a great person. There's no way she could have done the wrong thing."