Head, the racket manufacturer, has announced it is to extend its sponsorship deal with Maria Sharapova despite her positive drugs test.
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Days after stunning the sports world by announcing she had failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January, Maria Sharapova thanked her fans for their “wonderful words” that put a smile on her face.
Since former world number one Sharapova admitted using meldonium, Russian sports officials have said a number of other competitors have taken the substance, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium, and more names could emerge.
The Times of London reported that all tennis players were warned five times in total past year that the substance was due to be banned.
Sharapova claimed she had not read the updated list of banned substances sent to athletes in December and took “full responsibility” for her actions.
In response, Sharapova’s lawyer, John Haggerty, said she had not been taking the drug every day for 10 years. Not for nothing has she earned more in lucrative endorsements than her more successful competitors, her critics say.
Sharapova has been provisionally suspended with effect from March 12 by the International Tennis Federation.
Sharapova signed a three-year deal to be brand ambassador for Porsche in April 2013.
German anti-doping expert Mario Thevis, who helped to develop the test for meldonium, told the AP that testing was reliable despite meldonium’s recent addition to the WADA banned list.
Jennifer Capriati was among the first to criticise Sharapova in a series of tweets which she later deleted, saying, “I’m extremely angry and disappointed”.
In Los Angeles on Monday, Sharapova said she had been taking meldonium, also known as mildronate, for 10 years because of health problems and regular bouts of flu.
Tim Chico, a consultant cardiologist at Britain’s Sheffield University, said it was unlikely that such a young and extremely fit woman would be suffering from a serious heart condition like angina, or would be able to play top level tennis if she were. A two-year ban would keep her out until early 2018, which might be too long to keep the internal flame alight, particularly in view of her recurring injuries.
“I have not been online much except the odd search for a new antique coffee table (random, I know), but my friends made a collage for me with all your handsome messages and hashtags that you created (#IStandWithMaria and #LetMariaPlay)”, Sharapova wrote, adding that she had noticed the “good old paparazzi” following her as she ventured to the gym on Tuesday. A lot of people were taking it for performance enhancing.
“We are saddened and surprised by the news about Maria Sharapova”, the company said in a statement Monday.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency, which banned the drug in January after previously having it on a “watch list ” , ranks it as a prohibited metabolic modulator and cites “evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance”.
