Sharapova will appeal ‘unfairly harsh’ two-year drug ban
Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday for testing positive for meldonium, a banned substance. The ruling said that while she did not cheat intentionally, she must take “sole responsibility” and “very significant fault” for the error.
Sharapova, 29, responded in a statement that she “cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension,” and that she would appeal the decision. The sentence, as it stands, would end on Jan. 25, 2018.
Her statement read: “Today with their decision of a two-year suspension, the ITF tribunal unanimously concluded that what I did was not intentional. The tribunal found that I did not seek treatment from my doctor for the purpose of obtaining a performance enhancing substance. The ITF spent tremendous amounts of time and resources trying to prove I intentionally violated the anti-doping rules and the tribunal concluded I did not. You need to know that the ITF asked the tribunal to suspend me for four years — the required suspension for an intentional violation — and the tribunal rejected the ITF’s position.
“While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension. 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. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
Sharapova was temporarily suspended from the tour in March, when she admitted that she had failed a drug test after her quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January. She claimed that she was unaware that mildronate, a drug she had used since 2006, was on the banned list and known as meldonium. That drug had been legal in the past but was added to the banned substance list on Jan. 1, 2016.
She also tested positive for that drug in a random test in Moscow on Feb. 2. The drug is said to boost oxygen and blood flow, and she said she was using it at the order of her doctor because of family history of heart issues.