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Teh One Who Knocks
06-08-2016, 03:50 PM
By Martyn Herman


http://i.imgur.com/16jChee.jpg

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian former world number one Maria Sharapova was handed a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday following her positive test for banned drug meldonium at this year's Australian Open.

In a statement the ITF said the 29-year-old five-times grand slam champion's ban would be back-dated to Jan. 26 this year, meaning her results from the Australian Open where she reached the quarter-finals, would be disqualified.

"An Independent Tribunal appointed under Article 8.1 of the 2016 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme has found that Maria Sharapova committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under Article 2.1 of the Programme and as a consequence has disqualified the affected results and imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 26 January 2016," the ITF said in a statement.

Sharapova, the world's highest-paid female athlete, stunned the sporting world in March when she announced that she had tested positive for meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking for a decade to treat diabetes and low magnesium.

Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of banned substances at the start of the year after evidence that it boosted blood flow and enhanced athletic performance.

After her admission, Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer cut its ties with Sharapova while other brands such as Nike and Porsche distanced themselves from her.

The ban means she will miss this year's Wimbledon championships, the title she won as a teenager to launch her career into orbit in 2004, and the Rio Olympics.

At the time Sharapova, the highest-profile tennis player to fail an anti-doping test, insisted she had made "a huge mistake" blaming her failure to read an email sent by the ITF that meldonium had been added to the WADA list.

Sharapova has 35 WTA singles titles and has won all four of the sport's grand slam titles.

Her career earnings amount to $36 million while her off-court earnings, according to Forbes, are around $200 million.

fricnjay
06-08-2016, 03:54 PM
:shakehead:

FBD
06-08-2016, 03:59 PM
the fuck, do they ban nitric oxide too?

ban water, it increases blood flow :lol:


that said, I have no fucking clue what meldonium is :dance:

deebakes
06-08-2016, 04:02 PM
:fbd:

RBP
06-08-2016, 04:05 PM
Maria Sharapova revealed on Monday that she had failed a drugs test at this year’s Australian Open and immediately brought meldonium to the world’s attention.

Meldonium is also known as mildronate, the name by which Sharapova knew the drug, having taken it since 2006.

But what do we know about the substance, why was the Russian taking it and why was it banned only this year?

• Meldonium is used to treat ischaemia: a lack of blood flow to parts of the body, particularly in cases of angina or heart failure.

• It is manufactured in Latvia and only distributed in Baltic countries and Russia. It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States and is not authorised in the rest of Europe.

• It increases blood flow, which improves exercise capacity in athletes.

• Wada found “evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance” by virtue of carrying more oxygen to muscle tissue.

• The decision to add meldonium to the banned list was approved on 16 September 2015, and it came into effect on 1 January 2016. Wada had spent the previous year monitoring the drug before adding it to the banned list.

• The drug was name-checked in the latest investigative documentary on Russian doping reforms by the German Hajo Seppelt on Sunday. The documentary referred to a 2015 study in which 17% of Russian athletes (724 of 4,316) tested were found to have meldonium in their system. A global study found 2.2% of athletes had it in their system.

• L’Equipe reported that the scientific advisor to the French Agency Against Doping (AFLD), Professor Xavier Bigard, said in interviews with athletes at last year’s European Games in Baku that a wide proportion of athletes admitted taking meldonium.

• It is classed as an S4 substance under the Wada code, which addresses hormone and metabolic modulators.

• The standard ban under the World Anti-Doping Code is four years.

• A memo was sent out to athletes by Russia’s anti-doping agency last September informing them of the decision to ban its use.

• Sharapova says she has been taking the drug for 10 years after she was regularly falling ill. She had a magnesium deficiency and family history of diabetes.

• Several athletes have been suspended since the turn of 2016 after testing positive for the dug. Abebe Aregawi, the 2013 women’s 1,500m world champion, has been provisionally suspended after meldonium was found in a sample she provided. Endeshaw Negesse, the 2015 Tokyo marathon champion, was also banned after reportedly testing positive for the same substance. Others include Olga Abramova and Artem Tyschcenko, two Ukrainian biathletes, Eduard Vorganov, a Russian cyclist and Ekaterina Bobrova, a Russian ice dancer.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/08/meldonium-maria-sharapova-failed-drugs-test

fricnjay
06-08-2016, 04:06 PM
I bet the WTA is the real looser here. Sharapova is one of their biggest draws, bet they loose ratings and in turn money.

RBP
06-08-2016, 04:08 PM
Candid of Sharapova after receiving word of the ban.

http://i.imgur.com/m3V8crv.jpg?1

Teh One Who Knocks
06-08-2016, 04:13 PM
Candid of Sharapova after receiving word of the ban.

http://i.imgur.com/m3V8crv.jpg?1

:hater:

RBP
06-08-2016, 04:16 PM
:lol:

Teh One Who Knocks
06-08-2016, 05:58 PM
By Chuck Schilken - The Los Angeles Times


Maria Sharapova has been suspended two years after testing positive for a banned substance in January, the International Tennis Federation announced Wednesday.

In its ruling, the organization said it had determined that the five-time Grand Slam champion hadn’t taken meldonium with the intention of cheating, but that nonetheless she "does bear sole responsibility for the contravention, and very significant fault."

Sharapova, 29, has said she first was prescribed the drug for medical reasons in 2006 and that she did not realize it had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as of Jan. 1 this year.

See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >>

But the ITF said in its ruling that Sharapova concealed her used of the substance rather than seeking advice from anti-doping authorities, doctors or others.

"She is the sole author of her own misforture," the ruling stated.

In a statement released on Facebook later Wednesday morning, Sharapova accepted responsibility for the positive doping test but stated that the length of the punishment was excessive. She could have been banned for up to four years.

http://i.imgur.com/EnNS0BX.jpg

“While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension,” she wrote. “The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years.”

The former world No. 1 player added that she will immediately appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I intend to stand for what I believe is right and that’s why I will fight to be back on the tennis court as soon as possible,” she said.

Sharapova was provisionally suspended by the ITF in March, when the positive test was made public. Her case was heard by a three-person panel. Sharapova’s lawyer, John Haggerty, said she spoke at the hearing.

The WTA said in a statement: "It is important at all times for players to be aware of the rules and to follow them. In this case, Maria has taken responsibility for her mistake from the outset. The WTA supports the process that the ITF and Maria have followed."

RBP
06-08-2016, 06:29 PM
:stfu:

Ignorance of the rules isn't a valid excuse.

Teh One Who Knocks
06-08-2016, 06:37 PM
:stfu:

Ignorance of the rules isn't a valid excuse.

:hand:

It's worked for Hillary Clinton so far :nono:

fricnjay
06-08-2016, 06:39 PM
:hand:

It's worked for Hillary Clinton so far :nono:

:true:

RBP
06-08-2016, 06:39 PM
:hand:

It's worked for Hillary Clinton so far :nono:

Now there's a dope that should be banned.

FBD
06-08-2016, 06:42 PM
Now there's a dope that should be burned in a pit and then tossed from an extremely high cliff.

ftfy