Earlier, Nike had chose to sever its ties with the five-time Grand Slam champion pending the outcome of the investigation after Sharapova revealed that she had tested positive for the banned substance meldonium in January 26.
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Eliasch says his company “will continue to stand by Miss Sharapova”.
At an anti-doping hearing in London on Wednesday, Sharapova was informed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that she would be banned for two years as meldonium is a metabolic modulator which increases stamina and endurance.
Two high-profile sponsors of Maria Sharapova have vowed to stand by her – despite the tennis star being banned for two years after admitting breaking anti-doping rules.
Sharapova, the world’s highest-paid female athlete, stunned the sporting world in March when she announced that she had tested positive for meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking for a decade to treat diabetes and low magnesium.
Meldonium increases blood flow, which improves exercise capacity by carrying more oxygen to the muscles.
The ITF said Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in an out-of competition test on 2 February, as well as following her Australian Open quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams on 26 January.
Tag Heuer announced in March it had decided not to renew Sharapova’s contract, but has not ruled out working with her again in the future. She has earned $36 million during that time, largely from endorsements.
Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has been one of the most dominant women in tennis and in all of the sport over the past decade. The chemical was added to the ITF’s banned substances list in January, and Sharapova has maintained that she wasn’t aware of the change.
Meanwhile, Sharapova persevered that the decision was “unfair” and “harsh”, and that she will appeal the ITF verdict in the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years.
A 33-page report of the tribunal’s findings said: “The ITF accepts that the player did not engage in conduct that she knew constituted an anti-doping rule violation”, but it rejected her assertion that there was no “significant” fault on her part.
Racquet sponsors HEAD said they had no hesitation in staying loyal to their client just as they had done after her failed test.
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Sharapova admitted she had never personally made any effort to check whether her medication had been added to the banned list. It’s always a sad situation when someone is getting banned or you have heard they have failed a drug test – not only for Maria but for tennis in general.
