Back in March of this year, Maria Sharapova stepped out for a hastily announced press conference and announced that she had tested positive for a banned substance, meldonium. Meldonium had been added to the ITF’s banned substance list as of January 2016. She claimed that she and her people had simply missed the announcement, that she had simply not clicked a link in one email. Although… that claim quickly fell apart, as many other professional tennis players began talking about how they and their teams go through all of those emails with a fine-toothed comb. Plus, Sharapova and her team were apparently warned five times about meldonium’s addition to the banned-substances list.
So, Sharapova has had to sit out the current tennis season and her hearing was back in May. The International Tennis Federation made their ruling Wednesday: Maria is banned for two years. She’s already announced that she will appeal the decision.
Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday for testing positive for a banned substance. Sharapova, 29, announced in March that she tested positive for meldonium on Jan. 26 at the Australian Open and began serving a provisional suspension. Meldonium, a heart medication that is said to improve blood flow and allow athletes to recover faster, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list in January after the agency monitored its use for a year.
Sharapova had a two-day hearing, on May 18 and 19, with a three-member tribunal appointed by the I.T.F. She faced a suspension of up to four years if the tribunal decided her use of meldonium was intentional. The I.T.F. said that because of her prompt admission of her violation, the suspension would be backdated to begin on Jan. 26 and she would be eligible to return at midnight on Jan. 25, 2018.
The tribunal ruled: “The contravention of the antidoping rules was not intentional as Ms. Sharapova did not appreciate that Mildronate contained a substance prohibited from 1 January 2016. However, she does bear sole responsibility for the contravention, and very significant fault, in failing to take any steps to check whether the continued use of this medicine was permissible.”
Sharapova said in a statement released on her Facebook page that she would immediately appeal the suspension through the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension,” she said. “The tribunal, whose members were selected by the I.T.F., agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years.”
“The tribunal, whose members were selected by the I.T.F., agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong…” Except that they did think that she did something wrong, thus their usage of “very significant fault” for not checking the new year’s banned-list additions. But I guess the point is that the ITF believes her excuse, that she didn’t check and she – the wealthiest woman in the sport of tennis with lots of trainers, coaches, lawyers, etc – didn’t have anyone around her checking the list either. How is it that the ITF believed that story? Oh well. Absence of intention is not absence of malice, and I still think it’s shady as hell that she was on this drug for a decade. Everything about her story is shady, actually. And I think a two-year ban is a gift.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
The fact that the ITF says they believe her story doesn’t mean they actually do.
Guilty as hell in my book.
And what the hell are those trousers she’s wearing?!
Does anyone else get the feeling that she wanted out of the game and this was a way for her to stop playing? I know that doesn’t make much sense but something just doesn’t add up for me.
Really? What doesn’t add up. If she wanted to walk away, she could have. She’s had a successful career, she’s been around for a while, won five grand slams. She still has lucrative contracts with several major companies, and they could have continued in some fashion if she had simply announced her retirement citing injuries. What doesn’t add up is her story.
It’s her attitude that seems so flippant to everything that she is going through that doesn’t make sense to me. Her whole life was tennis and she lost so much but she doesn’t seem to care as much as you would think considering. The next week after this happened, she was on the beach like nothing happened, seemed more like a weight was lifted off her shoulder.
I think the beach pictures were set up to send a message. To say, “Look at me, I’m relaxed and stress free because I have nothing to worry about. The investigation will clear my name and I’ll be back playing in no time.” Everything she has done has been carefully orchestrated to get the most lenient sentence, do the least PR damage to her brand and to get back to the courts as quickly as possible.
She probably didn’t think she’d get banned. Isn’t Nike sticking with her?
I think those photos were part of her campaign to retain her endorsement deals. They said, “I am still conventionally hot and I look nothing like the average doping culprit. I can still sell your products”.
It worked by the way. All her major sponsors are not only hanging around, they are issuing statements of support. To be a beautiful, thin, blonde girl means that you get more endorsement deals than the woman who has won 17 of the 19 matches you have played against her. To be a beautiful thin blonde girl means that the authorities believe you when you claim that nobody in your massive team noticed that the performance enhancer you have used all of your career has been officially banned.
Everything you said Naya #RewardingMediocrity
Maria may be many things but she’s not mediocre. At the very least she was extremely remiss in this case. Two years out at this stage of her career is difficult to come back from. Buts it’s her own fault. It’s a shame.
I always thought she was one of the tennis players allegedly accepting bribes for match fixing. Her performances in Wimbledon in recent years have been strange; she’s been very strong all the way up to the semis or something and then goes out in two sets.
Total guess work, but when I read something about match fixing in tennis the first thought in my head was that it would explain Sharapova’s playing recently
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was involved. This doping scandal may be minor in comparison to other things she may have involved in.
@honey Sharapova was found guilty for taking a substance, which was banned for 70 days prior to that. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on why you believe that she is involved in “other things”?
Tennis players have been implicated in match fixing, she has shown that she has a questionable character with the doping scandal. I didn’t say she is involved, I said she could be. Do you see the difference??
No one should be accused of match fixing unless there’s proof. As far as I know there isn’t. Even suggesting it as a possibility is not fair. I think Maria is too keen a competitor and too rich to go down that route. Unless there is evidence otherwise.
@Honey I don’t say you are a horrible human being with an unhealthy obsession for Sharapova, I say you could be. Do you see the difference?
I don’t care at all about Sharapova, but the way you carry on here is so malicious I couldn’t help myself.
The reaction to her by the tennis press has been rather forgiving all things considered. Imagine if this was Serena? Reading the rule book, she seems to have been lucky to not have been given 4 years. I have very little sympathy for her. I think doping is probably a lot more widespread in tennis than is currently known. The ATP in particular is a joke- Cilic and Gasquet got bans of only a few months and nobody even mentions it any more.
She’s blonde, she’s beautiful, she’ll always take a pass and while she won’t be playing, probably forever, cause two years is a long time in such a competitive sport, in a few months she will be back doing endorsements and soon people will forget.
Girl may be blond, but she ain’t beautiful, by any stretch.
Moving on, if Serena had “failed to read” the list of banned substances, the headlines and comments would all center around “Can Serena Williams Read?” and how illiterate she must be and that she needs to get an education so she can read a darn list. Oh, and that she is a male ape and should be stripped of every title she’s ever won. No. Doubt. In. My. Mind.
–TheRealPinky
@Pinky,
For reals. They’d want the trophies, titles AND money back.
Yeah, she gets a pass because she’s white, thin, and blond. No she’s not beautiful.
@ pinky
Unfortunately you are so right. And that is so messed up.
She ain’t blonde either. You’d think with all of her money she could afford to have her roots done.
I am not her biggest fan but she is extremely pretty. She’s not thin either. She’s athletic, as she should be. I’m not sure why Serena has to be brought in as contrast all the time.
Gasquet’s ban was for cocaine. That’s never been a performance enhancing drug. It’s different from Sharapova or Cilic.
I think it has been more problematic with this substance now that it is known to stay in the body for months after taken – so if she hadn’t jumped in and admitted at her press conference that she took it in January after the ban she would probably have got away with it,
Others who have tested positive have had their suspensions lifted as WADA – the international anti-doping agency – is talking about a possible amnesty for the first part of 2016 as the drug could have been taken before it was banned
Gasquet’s ‘explanation’ that it was in his system because he’d kissed a girl at a party was ludicrous, but fair enough. Cilic got off very very lightly for his offence though, and other retired players have said that they served silent bans. Murray said in an interview that they weren’t being tested often enough- he’s had 3 tests the whole year thus far or something like that and he’s #2 in the world.
Serena would be banned for life if this had happened to her. And Lainey reported that Nike and others are going back to Shaparova for endorsements. WTF? A tennis player banned for substance abuse for 2 years gets endorsements?
I saw a lot of comments saying that they wish it had been Serena and Maria should get to stay because she’s hot. People are ridiculous and predictable.
Well Serena has won more than Maria has I know people want to make this into a race issue(with the obvious race baiting)
And yes I do find some of the criticism towards Serena to come from racism but really its that she’s a winner and her competition leaves a lot to be desired in comparison.
Its expected stick around long enough and win too much you become the bad guy.
Hard to believe but Tom Brady was once beloved now he’s reviled because he wins a lot.
She deserves it for the moans alone. Ugh. Or should I say, AAAAAUUUGHHH.
Shreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkk surely?
I hate this kind of shit. If you don’t read the newsletters and rule updates and stuff – you’re taking a risk. End of story.
not just her, a huge team of people she pays to keep stuff like that on track and they all missed it?
Either she’s hired a group of absolute morons, or they just didn’t care. Either way, not impressive.
Apparently she hadn’t told most of her team that she was taking it. Only her Dad and her manager knew. Which just makes it all look even more shady.
after reading the ITF report, blaming her team is unfair. Because she hid the fact that she was taking meldonium from her team. only her father and agent knew about it. Her doctors and trainers were not aware. She did not even list the drug in the medication list presented to Tennis officials. This is all on her and nobody else.
@Honey She may have wanted out but for an athlete this is like being dishonorably discharged from the military. I don’t see her using this as an exit.
I agree it is dishonourable but she’s not exactly holding her head in shame, she’s seems totally fine to me. Maybe I just don’t understand this level of arrogance or something. Lance Armstrong was the same, if not worse!
Please, she’s full of it. Her team had a lot of self-interest in keeping her brand successful. Nothing worse than cheats in the sports world.
The report was very strange to read, because they clearly didn’t believe her at all. They pretty much tore her defense to shreds, and the testimony of her manager (?) agent (?) as well. But then said it was a mistake. I think they didn’t believe one iota of her story, but can’t actually prove it wasn’t a mistake so they had to give this finding.
I agree. This article on the Guardian gives a great breakdown of the report.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/08/maria-sharapova–drugs-in-sport-tennis
The best part is her manager said he used to print the list of newly banned drugs and take it to the Caribbean to read beside the pool. But because he split up with his wife in 2015 he didn’t take his usual Caribbean vacation and therefore couldn’t read the list that year. So basically the list of banned drugs must always be read poolside in the Caribbean!
I agree. The courts aren’t going to set themselves up for libel. They can only speak to facts and noone can prove or disprove she was aware of that drug being included in the list of banned drugs. All they can do in a situation like this, is back their decision w/out speaking ill of her.
I beleive wholeheartedly two things:
1. She was very aware of the drug’s inclusion on the banned list but she took a chance because she was addicted and couldn’t stop in time to get it out of her system for the testing.
2. She’s been using a drug that enhances performance (to some degree) for over a decade. It really doesn’t matter to me that the drug was not on the banned list. Taking something to enhance your performance or even your physique, regardless of it’s category or inclusion on a list of banned drugs, is cheating. She is a cheater, regardless of legalities. I don’t beleive she had any need to use that drug other than to give her an edge in her sport. That is cheating.
There are a LOT of athletes, American and foreign, that take drugs or treatments that enhance performance, though are still considered legal. Look at the whole Nike Oregon Project discussion – they’re walking right up to the line of what’s considered acceptable, and getting as close as possible. Therapeutic Use Exemptions are all over elite sports. But it’s not considered cheating unless they’re using something that’s specifically been banned. Sharapova was fine until January, but the moment she kept taking meldonium after it was banned she became a cheater.
She’s been using a drug that enhances performance (to some degree) for over a decade. It really doesn’t matter to me that the drug was not on the banned list. Taking something to enhance your performance or even your physique, regardless of it’s category or inclusion on a list of banned drugs, is cheating. She is a cheater,
Oh please! Caffeine is a “performance enhancer” in that it is a stimulant. Sugar likewise. Seratonin – even produced from a satisfying run is another. The back to nature types like their echinacea and green-tea and whatever and who knows what the chemical formulation there is and that will be found years down the road to be an artificial stim that must be banned.
We all take these known mood- or performance-elevators for exactly that reason – they stimulate mood or performance however briefly. Doesn’t make one a cheater. It isn’t cheating if you found something that gives you a jolt that isn’t disallowed – Bridget is absolutely right. Shappy was absolutely fine through Dec 31 when her Mildronate was permissible. And abs. Wrong on Jan 1 when it wasn’t.
I will be honest and say that I think this stuff is shady as hell. BUT I also recognize that unless it’s on the banned list, it’s legal and isn’t technically cheating.
10 years taking this? Unintentional? Please. With her ethics she should be on the Russian Olympic team…
Russians aren’t the only ones taking doping around the world.
No, they aren’t. But they and the Kenyans are the only ones that have been found to have system problems going all the way to the top, to the point where they’re being threatened to be banned from the Olympics.
And she was taking advantage of her dual citizenship to get the drug from Russia (the country that may get banned from the Olympics for ubiquitous doping) even though she lives in the US. It’s pretty obvious she was cheating. I doubt she’ll be able to compete at a pro level in 2 years anyway as she’s not that dominant of a player anymore.
Are there any professional athletes who don’t use some sort of performing enhancement drugs anymore? (I mean, even Sudafed is banned and I understand why it was banned.)
I’m not defending her — athletes who knowingly use performance enhancing drugs are frauds in my book – they send such a damaging message to the youth who love sports.
@ redgirl A quick reminder that this substance was not banned for 10 years.
@ Luca76 this drug was not approved by FDA because its producer chose not to apply for FDA approval (probably due to high costs.) However, it was approved in many other countries and you could buy it in pharmacies all over Eastern Europe (it was developed in Latvia.) FDA is not an ultimate approval organization in the world.
My point is she lives in the states and was specifically getting refills in Russia it’s fishy that there wasn’t any other drug more easily accessible that she could take for a medical problem. Also according to the manufacturer of the drug it’s meant to be taken for 4-6 weeks not 10 years.
She was getting it in Russia because she was using it for something off label – performance enhancing. It was legal there and not a banned substance, but she wasn’t raking it for health reasons. And that didn’t matter until the moment it was banned – it’s only after she kept taking it that it became an issue.
However, she is not the only top level athlete to take meldonium or another substance to try to gain an edge. There’s a lot of chatter that we’re going to see the effects of the meldonium ban in the women’s T&F events.
Drug availability in pharmacies is NOT an implicit statement of their safety or appropriateness for individual users. In fact, it’s a huge problem in many countries that drugs are freely available in pharmacies with little-to-no medical professional oversight. I work in global infectious disease, specifically with extensively drug-resistant populations due to overuse of over-the-counter antibiotics. When patients are able to self-diagnose or self-medicate with inappropriate medications or dosages, it’s a major problem and I don’t blame them in the least for finding Sharapova responsible.
The report was pretty damning. Her shady doc had her taking a combo of 30 meds and supplements since she was a teenager, supposedly for a condition she didn’t have but was at risk of developing. If it was legit she wouldn’t have had to seek out this specific Russian Doctor known for helping athletes enhance their performance to help her manage her condition. But because she’s a skinny “pretty” white girl she’ll come out the other side of this just fine, the press has always handled her with kiddy gloves and it has been on full display in the coverage of her suspension.
@Honey
My her seemingly lack of care or worry is from the fact that she has not really lost much nor jas the media coverage been harsh on her either.
Aside from not playing tennis for two years what has she actually lost? Shes still got jer lucrative contracts and is living her life. I doubt this ruling will change much.
She’s only fighting it to save grace. She wont’ lose much monetarily, but she doesn’t want the public to think she’s a cheater, so she’s going to fight the ruling. She’d be better to suck it up and hope people will forget or give her another chance in two years, but she’s an entitled brat, so she’s not going to let it go – and to her detriment. Stomping her feet about the ruling (which IMO was a very light punishment) is only keeping it in people’s heads. Cheaters never admit they’re cheaters – even in the face of hard evidence, they will deny, deny, deny.
That is so true. Saw a documentary on Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter who lost his medal for doping, and somewhere in his mind, he earned his medal. Deny, deny, deny.
Carl Lewis anyone?
The ITF may have said that she didn’t intentionally take it after it became banned but the rest of its opinion on her using it even before it was banned is pretty damning. A sample:
“In the tribunal’s judgement this justification advanced for the failure by Ms Sharapova to disclose her regular use of Mildronate before championship matches is untenable. The wording of the doping control form was clear and could not reasonably be misunderstood. She must have known that taking a medication before a match, particularly one not currently prescribed by a doctor, was of considerable significance. This was a deliberate decision, not a mistake. Taken together with the evidence that over a period of 3 years she did not disclose her use of Mildronate to her coach, trainer, physio, nutritionist or any medical adviser she consulted through the WTA, the facts are only consistent with a deliberate decision to keep secret from the anti-doping authorities the fact that she was using Mildronate in competition”
She is very lucky. If she weren’t blonde and white, she’d be in worse trouble.
Thank God don’t have to hear her grunting endlessly. She said she would appeal but even though she claims she didn’t know it was banned she must have thought they would enhance her playing as she seemed to take it on big training days and on match days. I think her taking supplements is engrained in her as I read when she was 18 not in good health a Russian Dr prescribed 30 different supplements for her to take. I guess she thought hey what’s one more. Good riddance.
I look forward to her comeback in 2 years. Then we will see her true tennis, which I’m sure will amount to shit.
She deserved to be banned for life. What will her sponsors do?
Aren’t you supposed to submit a list of anything you are taking, such as asthma inhalers? She never put this on the list. She was taking it for 10 years, for a condition she hadn’t got, and couldn’t get the medication in her country of residence.
Yes you are meant to.
Some People are just shrugging off this story like it’s no big deal. If Serena Williams had been caught with something, it would be on every news channel world wide. Just saying…😑
Agreed 100%! I feel the same about Phil Mickelson’s (sp?) insider trading scandal which has largely been ignored by most news outlets. Tiger Woods may be a pos for cheating on his wife, but Mickelson broke the law and there’s barely been a blip about it!!!
Tiger’s cheating was dragged out in the news for months on end, parodied on SNL and blown up into something that overshadowed what he accomplished in his sport.
They don’t even have to pretend that they’re not abject racists, the world’s on the side of the racists, who’s going to stop them? It’s a science and religion to them, they really think that they’re just better.
You’re absolutely right. AND she would lose her whole career. This girl will still work for the endorsement deals she has after this. It’s mind boggling.
Yea, but Serena is a much better player(is she not?). I don’t follow tennis so I hadn’t heard about this woman until this scandal but I definitely knew who Serena Williams was.
Serena’s won 21 slams in singles, as well as multiple other doubles slams, Olympic golds etc. She’s got a very good claim to greatest of all time status. Maria’s won 5 slams and earns more endorsement money than Serena because she’s blonde basically.
The price of shares in companies who manufacture ear defenders has dropped like a stone.
Could her appeal go horribly wrong and she gets hit with the original 4 year suspension? (crossing fingers) 🙂 I agree she should keep quiet now and be thankful this is all she got. Even if appealing is just a PR move, it’s a bad one I think. She can (respectfully) accept the decision without that being seen as an admission of guilt, even if she publicly ”accepts she made a mistake” (rather than the truth – which is clearly more shady). Appealing makes her look really entitled and obnoxious.
There’s no reason for her to be banned for life she’s past 30 right? Losing two years is enough to end her career at this point.
She should have thought of that before she took a banned substance.
At the time she started taking it, it was not a banned substance. HOWEVER, even during the time it was not banned, the drug is only meant to be taken a short period of time — if it’s for “health” reasons as she stated…not a f’ing decade.
You failed to see my point it really doesn’t matter if she’s banned for life or 2 years at her age her career is already over regardless.
The moment it was banned in January, she needed to stop taking it.
And CF98 I see your point, but it doesn’t really matter because that’s just the consequence of her actions. You take a banned substance, if you get caught then this is the punishment. If her career is over because of this, that’s a result of her bad judgement. She took a performance enhancing substance and got caught (in an Olympic year, no less). It clearly wasn’t enough of a deterrent for her to know that a suspension could be career ending, so why on earth would she deserve leniency?
If this had been Serena Williams, they would be demanding she give back her Grand Slam Trophies and Titles.
This has been a recurring theme of this thread. Can I point out that as referenced above, the (POC) US athlete Carl Lewis failed dope tests some years ago. The results were covered up and so far as I know he retains his Olympic titles. I am sure he is not the only one. There are a number of proven drugs cheats still in active competition, among them the US (POC) runner Justin Gatlin. So I don’t know the evidence for your assertion. Commendably, as far as I know no POC tennis player has been tested positive.
I cannot stand this woman! I cannot stand how she shrieks and grunts all the time, so 2 years of absence of that is so welcome. Without wanting to sound really dirty if someone can only hear the tv on and not see it, they would assume you had a porno movie playing. Forget the heart medication, how she has been allowed to get away with *that* carry on all this time is beyond me.