Maria Sharapovahas been provisionally banned from tennis after she revealed on Monday she tested positive at the Australian Open for a recently banned drug that she has been taking for 10 years for health reasons.
The drug is called meldonium, though Sharapova said she had been using it under the name of mildronate and was unaware of both the different name and the fact it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list until she received a letter notifying her of the positive test 10 days ago.
“I let my fans down, I let the sport down that I have been playing since the age of four and I love so deeply. I know with this I face consequences and I don’t want to end my career this way and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game.”
What is meldonium and why did Maria Sharapova take it?
Sharapova claimed she was prescribed meldonium by her doctor in 2006 to deal with health issues such as an irregular heartbeat and a history of diabetes in her family. But the substance was added to the banned list in January of this year because Wada said there was “evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance”.
Sharapova added: “For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received the ITF letter I found out that it also has another name of meldonium which I did not know. It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on Wada’s banned list and I had legally been taking the medicine for the past 10 years. But on 1 January the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance which I had not known. I failed the test and I take full responsibility for it. I made a huge mistake.”
The ITF said Sharapova, who now faces a ban from the sport, had been informed of the positive test on 2 March and she will be provisionally suspended from 12 March.
One of Sharapova’s biggest sponsors, Nike, announced it had suspended its relationship with her while the investigation continues. “We are saddened and surprised by the news about Maria Sharapova,” a Nike statement read.
Sharapova for the records, made herself into the highest-paid female in sport, earning more than $20m annually, through a series of high-end endorsement deals.
Culled from theguardian.com
No comments:
Post a Comment