Tennis player Maria Sharapova today had her "two-year drugs ban reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport," meaning she will be "back in time for the French Open" in May '17, according to Chris Murphy of CNN.com. Sharapova "tested positive for banned substance meldonium at the Australian Open in January and was subsequently banned for two years" by the ITF. A statement on CAS's official website said, "The Panel found that Ms Sharapova committed an anti-doping rule violation and that while it was with 'no significant fault', she bore some degree of fault, for which a sanction of fifteen months is appropriate." Sharapova immediately "expressed her relief at the reduction of her ban, and took aim at the ITF, saying she hoped they would learn from this experience" (CNN.com, 10/4). In London, Sean Gibson notes the reduction was "widely expected as the debate around the drug meldonium rages on." Sharapova's legal team was "expected to argue that the 29-year-old's high profile had prompted" the ITF to be "unreasonably harsh in banning Sharapova, in order to make an example of her" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 10/4). Sharapova on her Facebook page posted a response to the reduced ban, writing, "Now that this process is over, I hope the ITF and other relevant tennis anti-doping authorities will study what these other Federations did, so that no other tennis player will have to go through what I went through" (FACEBOOK.com, 10/4). CNN's Piers Morgan tweeted, "Sporting cheats prosper once again. Where's the disincentive?" The London Daily Mail's Mike Dickson: "Assuming a lot to say Sharapova will play next year's French Open main draw. Not sure the Slams will fall over themselves to give wildcards." Ohio Univ. sports business professor Robert Boland: "Perhaps most public effort by an athlete to accept blame and lobby for leniency" (TWITTER.com, 10/4).
GOOD NEWS FOR SPONSOR PROFILE: In N.Y., Rebecca Ruiz notes today's ruling may help Sharapova "redeem her standing with sponsors that quickly distanced themselves from her when she was disciplined last spring." Some companies, including Nike, "expressed support for Sharapova," while others, like Porsche, said that they would "wait until the court delivered its ruling to decide whether to continue their relationship with her" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/4). BBC Sport's Richard Conway tweeted, "The twisted logic of some sponsors when it comes to their star names and doping does a huge disservice to sport." Bleacher Report's Greg Couch: "Now that Sharapova's doping ban was reduced how long until the endorsers are crawling up to her door, begging?" Sponsor Head Tennis posted a Twitter image congratulating Sharapova (TWITTER.com, 10/4).
