The shaming of Sharapova
Two-year drug ban for tennis star as report says: She knew she was breaking the rules
MARIA Sharapova was banned from tennis for two years yesterday after a report found she had ‘concealed’ taking a performance-enhancing drug.
The International Tennis Federation said the Russian former Wimbledon champion had ‘no excuse’ for failing to tell anyone that she had been taking the prohibited substance.
In a 33-page dossier, the world tennis body said that she ‘knowingly and manifestly’ broke the rules and that the only possible reason was to enhance her performance.
The ITF found that Miss Sharapova failed to tell her nutritionist, her doctors and her coaches about her use of Meldonium – and did not disclose it on forms she signed for the World Anti-Doping Agency.
It said this was ‘a deliberate decision to keep secret from the anti-doping authorities’ she was taking the drug.
The tribunal found that she had committed a ‘moral fault’ and that she was the ‘sole author of her own misfortune’.
It also found Miss Sharapova, 29, had used Meldonium six times in seven days at Wimbledon 2015, and five times in seven days at the Australian Open 2016.
She said yesterday that the punishment – towards the heavier end of the scale – was ‘unfairly harsh’ and vowed to appeal. She wrote on Facebook: ‘I intend to stand for what I believe is right and that’s why I will fight to be back on the tennis court as soon as possible’.
Miss Sharapova had argued a ban would ‘disproportionately affect (her) in causing a substantial loss of earnings and sponsorships’.
As the ban was announced Forbes magazine revealed she has lost the title of the world’s highest-paid female athlete to Serena Williams, a title she had held for 11 years.
Her income dropped by £5 million but she still raked in £15 million in the past 12 months compared to Miss Williams’ £19.8million.
Miss Sharapova revealed her failed drug test in March at a press conference where she admitted taking the heart drug which can boost performance by increasing blood flow and carrying more oxygen to muscles. It also treats diabetes and angina.
WADA banned it in January but Miss Sharapova claimed she did not realise that the drug had been added to the prohibited list.
But the blunt ITF report said: ‘The underlying factual puzzle in this case is how an elite player in the position of Ms Sharapova, with the assistance of a professional team including the very best sporting and medical advice obtainable, could ever have placed herself in the position of taking a Prohibited Substance, as is admitted, before each of the five matches she played at the Australian Open.’
It concluded that if she ‘had not concealed’ her use of the drug from authorities, her own support team and doctors she consulted – and had sought advice – ‘the contravention would have been avoided’.
The report states that Miss Sharapova was first prescribed the drug in 2005, a year after she had won Wimbledon at 17, by Dr Anatoly Skalny of the Centre for Biotic Medicine in Moscow. He advised she should take two pills an hour before a competition. During games of ‘special importance’ she was advised to increase the dose to 3 or 4 pills.
The ITF said it was satisfied this was to deal with recurring flu-like symptoms and a family history of diabetes. It found that while Miss Sharapova’s breach was not intentional, she only had herself to blame.
The ban was backdated to January 26 – the day she failed her drugs test at the Australian Open – meaning it will end on January 25, 2018.
It means she cannot play a Grand Slam until that year’s French Open. On Facebook, Miss Sharapova, who has won five Grand Slams, wrote: ‘I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension.
‘With their decision of a two-year suspension, the ITF tribunal unanimously concluded that what I did was not intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years’.
Sportsmail – Pages 80 & 81
‘I cannot accept unfairly harsh ban’