Reuters
Los Angeles, March 8: Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova said Monday here she had failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she was taking for health issues.
The 28-year-old Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and the highest paid woman in sports, will be provisionally suspended starting March 12, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said in a release Monday.
She is the seventh athlete in a month to test positive for meldonium, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium, and was only banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as of January 1.
“I made a huge mistake. I let my fans down and I let the sport down,” said Sharapova, a teenage tennis prodigy who became the third-youngest Wimbledon champion in 2004 when she beat Serena Williams. “I take full responsibility for it.
“I know that with this I face consequences and I don’t want to end my career this way. I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game,” the former World No. 1 told a news conference in a downtown hotel here.
The ITF’s anti-doping programme calls for a four-year suspension for a positive test, but that ban can be reduced in various circumstances, such as for first-time offences or if the player shows no significant fault or negligence. If a player bears no fault or negligence, there is no suspension.
According to Forbes, Sharapova earned $29.5 million in 2015, mostly from endorsements.
Sharapova said her family doctor had been giving her ‘mildronate’, which is also called meldonium, for 10 years after she frequently became sick, had irregular EKG results, a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes.
“It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on WADA’s banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine. But on January 1, the rules have changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance,” informed the beauty queen. WADA declined to comment until ITF issues a final decision.
Meldonium is used to treat chest pain and heart attacks among other conditions, but some researchers have linked it to increased athletic performance and endurance. It is listed by WADA among its prohibited metabolic modulators, along with insulin, and some researchers say it can also help recovery.
Sharapova is the most prominent tennis player to test positive for a banned substance in recent years. Croatia’s Marin Cilic was banned for nine months in 2013 after testing positive for a prohibited stimulant, though the suspension was cut to four months on appeal.
Former World No.1 Martina Hingis retired after receiving a two-year suspension for a positive cocaine test in 2007, though the Swiss denied taking the drug. She has however, comeback strongly in the doubles with Sania Mirza as her partner.
