Maria Sharapova gets doping ban reduced
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The highest court in sports has cut Maria Sharapova’s two-year doping ban to 15 months.
The decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russian tennis star will be able to return to competition in April, in time for the French Open.
Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January and received a two-year ban from the International Tennis Federation. Sharapova, who faced up to a four-year suspension, lost all ranking points and prize money she earned in Melbourne.
She appealed to CAS in June.
The arbitration panel says she “bore some degree of fault” for the positive test “for which a sanction of 15 months is appropriate.”
In response to the reduction in the ban’s length, Sharapova said in a statement on social media: “In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back.”
Hello SharaFamily! I’ve gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March when I learned about my suspension...
Posted by Maria Sharapova on Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Her ban took effect on Jan. 26.
She has called the decision to ban her for two years “an unfairly harsh” punishment.
Sharapova acknowledged taking meldonium before each match at the Australian Open. She said she had not been aware that meldonium, also known as mildronate, had been banned by World Anti-Doping Agency as of Jan. 1.
An independent three-person panel appointed by the ITF ruled that Sharapova did not intend to cheat because she didn’t know meldonium was banned, but that she bore “sole responsibility” and “very significant fault” for the positive test.
Sharapova said she first was prescribed the Latvian-made drug, typically used for heart conditions, for medical reasons in 2006.