Maria Sharapova’s sponsors have "congratulated the tennis player" after the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the tennis player’s two-year ban for taking meldonium to 15 months, according to Samuel Lovett of the London INDEPENDENT. The former World No. 1 tested positive for the drug last June and "was initially expected to be banned from the game" until Jan. '18. Following a lengthy appeal, "the decision was overturned on Tuesday" and the Russian will now return to the sport in April. Using the hashtag #WeStoodWithMaria, racket supplier Head tweeted out its congratulations and issued a public statement in which it declared that the company was "very proud to have stood by Maria." Head CEO & Chair Johan Eliasch said, "As a result of the CAS ruling on Maria Sharapova, HEAD would like to firstly congratulate Maria on justice being served. We eagerly await her return to competitive tennis in April 2017 and we are very proud to have stood by Maria for the right reasons throughout these difficult and testing times for both Maria and those who have supported her all over the world" (INDEPENDENT, 10/4). The London GUARDIAN reported Head "provoked bewilderment" on social media. Twitter users "were astonished at Head's reaction to the news," with one saying, "You're proud to defend a cheat. How very noble." Another said, "Her ban has been reduced, guilt has been upheld. Why are you promoting drug abuse?" (GUARDIAN, 10/4).
SEEKING REDEMPTION: In N.Y., Rebecca Ruiz wrote Tuesday'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, a five-time Grand Slam champion, while others, like Porsche, said that it "would wait until the court delivered its ruling to decide whether to continue their relationship." A spokesperson for Porsche said Tuesday that the company planned to discuss "a future collaboration" in coming weeks (
N.Y. TIMES, 10/4).
