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The 29-year-old Russian took the banned Latvian-made drug
meldonium, a commonly used heart disease treatment which increases stamina and
endurance
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Maria Sharapova, the five-time tennis Grand Slam champion,
has been handed a two-year ban after failing an anti-doping test at the
Australian Open in January.
The 29-year-old Russian took the Latvian-made drug
meldonium, a commonly used heart disease treatment, for a period of time which
overlapped the 1 January 2016 cut-off date, when it was added to the World
Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) banned list.
At an anti-doping hearing in London, Sharapova was informed
by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that she would be banned for two
years as meldonium is a metabolic modulator which increases stamina and
endurance.
It has suggested that Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004,
has avoided the maximum four-year ban after Wada admitted earlier this year
that scientists could not determine how long the drug remained in the user’s
system after it had been taken.
“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 that medicine,” she said in March.
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Maria Sharapova's career defining moments
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Former world number one Sharapova admitted to taking
meldonium for 10 years after being recommended to do so by a family-approved
doctor on medical grounds.
All athletes were informed that the drug had been added to
the banned list at the beginning of the calendar year but Sharapova insists she
only knew the drug by the name mildronate.
The ITF confirmed that Sharapova failed the drug test on the
same day as her quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams in Melbourne, and she
was informed of the failed test via letter in March.
An ITF statement said: "An Independent Tribunal
appointed under Article 8.1 of the 2016 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme has found
that Maria Sharapova committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under Article 2.1
of the Programme and as a consequence has disqualified the affected results and
imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 26 January 2016.
"At a two-day hearing on 18-19 May 2016, the
Independent Tribunal received evidence and heard legal arguments from both
parties, and subsequently issued a reasoned decision on 8 June, which is
available below.
"The Independent Tribunal determined that Ms. Sharapova
should serve a period of ineligibility of two years; Due to her prompt
admission of her violation, that period of ineligibility should be
back-dated... to commence from 26 January 2016 (the date of sample collection)
and so should end at midnight on 25 January 2018.
"Her results at the 2016 Australian Open should be
disqualified, with resulting forfeiture of the ranking points and prize money
that she won at that event."
-The Independent-
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