The doping case involving Maria Sharapova appears set to rumble on for some time yet after the tennis star announced her intention to appeal a two-year suspension she describes as “unfairly harsh”.
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In the wake of Wednesday’s verdict, Sharapova said she would appeal the verdict in a statement on her Facebook page.
In March, when Sharapova announced she failed a drug test, Nike said it had “decided to suspend our relationship with Maria while the investigation continues” but that it would “monitor the situation”. She received a provisional ban on March 12.
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“The ITF Tribunal has found that Maria did not intentionally break its rules”, a statement from Nike said.
Russian Federation planned to include Sharapova on its Olympic tennis team but the suspension now rules out of August’s Rio Games. But she still said she doesn’t think her punishment fits the crime.
Should her appeal to the CAS fail, Sharapova will not be eligible to play in a grand slam until the 2018 French Open, by which time she will be 31.
“If it stands, then I think it will be hard for her to come back at the same level”, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, told TASS news agency, calling for the penalty to be reduced.
The Russian was initially prescribed meldonium for health reasons and claimed to be unaware it had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list on January 1.
Sharapova had argued the ITF should have made extra efforts to flag up the addition of meldonium to Wada’s banned list, particularly given a number of other players had tested positive for the drug in 2015.
The tribunal stated: “It may be that she genuinely believed that Mildronate [a trade name for meldonium] had some general beneficial effect on her health but the manner in which the medication was taken, its concealment from the anti-doping authorities, her failure to disclose it even to her own team, and the lack of any medical justification must inevitably lead to the conclusion that she took Mildronate for the objective of enhancing her performance”.
At the time of the failed test the sportswear firm said it was putting its £48m deal on hold.
The ITF had sought a four-year suspension, but the tribunal rejected that, she said. Sharapova topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid female athletes 11 years straight before Serena Williams passed her this June.
The tribunal wrote: “It may be that she genuinely believed that Mildronate had some general beneficial effect on her health but the manner in which the medication was taken, its concealment from the anti-doping authorities, her failure to disclose it even to her own team, and the lack of any medical justification must inevitably lead to the conclusion that she took Mildronate for the goal of enhancing her performance”. Whatever the position may have been in 2006, there was in 2016 no diagnosis and no therapeutic advice supporting the continuing use of Mildronate.
She said: “For the past 10 years, I have been given a medicine called, Mildronate, by my family doctor”.
Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer cut its ties with Sharapova after the news of her doping violation while Porsche distanced themselves from her.
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The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme applies to all players competing at Grand Slam tournaments and events sanctioned by the ITF, ATP, and WTA.
