Over the past decade, she has become one of the richest and most powerful women in Romania.
With the help of her tennis mentor and life advisor Ion Tiriac, she has amassed a fortune over the past decade almost unheard of by a private citizen, let alone someone so young still highly competitive in their sporting profession.
She has invested wisely and has purchased a magnitude of properties, hotels, resorts, all essentially at pennies on the dollar wherever possible with her investing team of business people.
However, she refused to ever be shaken down by the Romanian Mafia, and never gave in to their scare tactics which have always worked in the past when Romania was ruled under harsh communism. She chose to live her life publicly, honestly, and always thought she would be protected in today's world of public transparency and positivity towards the rest of the world.
People who know Halep know she's a rare breed of humility, humbleness, good character with the heart of a champion, although never sacrificing her heart of gold for her national pride. She loves Romania, and wanted to pursue a life after tennis in her homeland, despite having enough wealth to live anywhere on the globe.
Her significant ban from tennis mainly stems from how corrupt the anti-doping association is within the sport of tennis. The Romanian Mob has always been one of the most viciously run organizations over the past century, and it is sad to see Halep become collateral damage.
Questions/speculation will always surround this case - did her ex husband Toni Iuruc have connections with the Romanian Mob? Is Halep a scapegoat or collateral damage of far deeper, sinister bribery or blackmail of her ex-husband? The real truth may never end up being known.
Sadly, this all but seals her professional career being finished, and her name being forever tarnished, being labeled a cheater. For someone who always prided herself for being a beacon of light for the future generation of Romanian female athletes, this will haunt her for life.
Mainstream media stories will all pander the same information (https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/67207637.amp)
However, the underlying truth of Halep's failed drug test will go down in history as one of the biggest injustices in all of sport long after the damage has been done.
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