Maria Sharapova has had her two-year doping ban "reduced to 15 months after a successful appeal" to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), according to Sean Gibson of the London TELEGRAPH. The reduction, after Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in January, "was widely expected as the debate around the drug meldonium rages on." Sharapova said in a statement on her website, "I am counting the days until I can return to the court. I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well. CAS concluded that 'the Panel has determined it does not agree with many of the conclusions of the [ITF] Tribunal.'" Sharapova "will now be free to compete again in April 2017," with her ban beginning with her positive test earlier this year. Her legal team was expected to argue that the 29-year-old's high profile had prompted the Int'l Tennis Federation to be "unreasonably harsh" in banning Sharapova, in order to make an example of her (TELEGRAPH, 10/4).
SIGH OF RELIEF: In London, Jack Austin reported Sharapova described having the ban reduced as one of the "happiest" days of her career. CAS "cut the ban because of her lack of warning" from the World Anti-Doping Agency as well as the prescription from a Russian doctor based on medical reasons, "rather than performance-enhancing," and the fact that she had "used the drug for the past 10 years without any anti-doping violations." Despite not agreeing with a number of the ITF's conclusions, CAS did insist Sharapova "retains most of the responsibility for the failed test." The appeal over her suspension "was on the basis of the debate around the drug, which is a popular medication in Russia." There are arguments over "how long it takes to leave the athlete’s system and whether athletes received ample warning time" ahead of it being added to WADA’s banned list in January (INDEPENDENT, 10/4). REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported American Pam Shriver, a former grand slam doubles champion, said on Twitter that Sharapova's statement "throws the ITF under the bus." Women's Tennis Association CEO Steve Simon said, "The TADP (tennis anti-doping program) has a comprehensive and fair process in place and we support the final result. We are pleased that the process is now at completion and we can look forward to seeing Maria back on court in 2017." Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpischev "welcomed the reduction in the length of the ban." He said, "It's good, they reduced the ban. We want her to play for the national team and win the next Olympics for us" (REUTERS, 10/4).
NOT CHEATING: The BBC reported the CAS panel said that it found Sharapova's case "was not about an athlete who cheated." It added that Sharapova was at fault for not giving her agent "adequate instructions" in checking WADA's prohibited list and "failing to supervise and control" her agent (BBC, 10/4). Baldwin reported in a separate piece other federations "had been much better at notifying their athletes of the rule change," especially in Eastern Europe where meldonium, or mildronate, was taken by millions of people. Sharapova: "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" (REUTERS, 10/4).
