Russian Tennis Federation president, Shamil Tarpishchev, had earlier expressed that he expected Sharapova to represent her country in Rio, while branding the positive test as “nonsense”.
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Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has been included in Russia’s tennis team for the Olympics, despite being suspended for failing a drugs test. “It has to be submitted by June 6”. “By the end of the first week of Roland Garros, the question of Sharapova’s participation at the Olympic Games should be resolved”.
Sharapova, 29, said she had been taking the substance for 10 years because of health reasons and was unaware that the oxygen-uptake enhancer had been added to WADA’s list of prohibited substances effective January 1.
There have been questions about the current testing and whether athletes who ingested the drug prior to its January 1 ban might still test positive months later.
Apart from Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavliuchenkova, and Darya Kasatkina were named, reports Tass.
If substitution is possible, then Sharapova will be replaced by Yekaterian Maksimova, No. 5 in the ratings among Russian women players.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is set to rule next month on Russia’s participation in the Games.
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The IOC has already revealed the existence of 31 new suspect cases from the 2008 Beijing Games, 14 of which involve Russian athletes, Russia’s Olympic Committee has said.
