Sharapova banned for two years over failed test

LONDON (Reuters) – The tennis career of Russian former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was in tatters on Wednesday after she was given a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation following her positive test for the banned drug meldonium.

In a statement the ITF said the five-time grand slam champion’s ban would be backdated to January 26 this year, meaning her results and prize money from the Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, would be canceled.

Sharapova, 29, said she would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, describing the punishment as “unfairly harsh.”

She said an independent tribunal in London on May 18-19 had found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.

A 33-page report of 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. “She was the sole author of her own misfortune,” it said. On its website, the ITF said the ban, which could have been as long as four years, had been backdated due to Sharapova’s “prompt admission” of taking the substance, and would end on midnight of January 25, 2018.

Sharapova has regularly battled back from serious injuries during her glittering career. But the two-year ban means she will not be eligible to play until after the 2018 Australian Open when she will be 30, and raises the question of whether she will ever play again.

Meldonium was added to WADA’s list of banned substances at the start of the year after mounting evidence that it boosted blood flow and enhanced athletic performance.

Around 180 athletes have tested positive for the drug, common throughout Eastern Europe, since January.

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 component of a product named Mildronate which she has taken since 2006 for health issues.

With 35 WTA singles titles and having won all four of the sport’s Grand Slam titles, Sharapova’s career earnings amount to $36 million while her off-court earnings, according to Forbes, are around $200 million.