18-year-old Romanian tennis player Maria Sara Popa, who trained at Simona Halep’s ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy, recently made a startling allegation against the institution.
She asserted that young tennis players at the academy were provided with unspecified “substances” to consume during their junior years, purportedly under a consent agreement.
In an interview with AS.ro, Popa disclosed her experience training at the Frenchman’s academy since the age of 12. She explained that junior tennis players, being less monitored by anti-doping agencies, were supplied with these substances until they reached 17 years old, when anti-doping tests became more frequent.
“I went when I was 12 years old. I played at the Mouratoglou Academy. It is true, from a young age, athletes are given some substances. In juniors, you are not controlled by Anti-doping. They let you grow up a little more, to turn 17, and from then on, the checks start more intensively,” Popa claimed.
Popa further revealed that athletes and their parents were required to sign a consent agreement. She admitted feeling fearful when she was first asked to do so.
“Players and parents must agree. They are given a sheet and must sign to agree to take that substance. The first time I was scared, I really didn’t know what was happening,” she said.
Additionally, Popa suggested that athletes who used illegal substances were able to evade detection by timing their consumption and elimination effectively.
“There are athletes who take those substances, only they don’t get caught because they know exactly when to eliminate the substance and they know exactly when to take them. I, for example, was tested weekly and never took. But I can’t put my hand in the fire for the other athletes,” she explained.
Popa clarified the distinction between supplements and the substances provided by physical trainers and doctors at the academies, emphasizing that supplements are standard daily pills that anyone can take.
