Maria Sharapova was warned five times about the banning of meldonium

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Maria Sharapova tested positive for a banned substance. The test was conducted in January, during the Australian Open, on the same day that Serena Williams beat Sharapova in the quarterfinal. Maria was praised and given very gentle treatment on Monday when she came out and announced the doping issue. Her story is that she’s been taking this medication for 10 years, and that she simply didn’t “click the link” in an email about the updated Banned Substances List, so she didn’t know. As I said in an earlier post, there were already some issues and disbelief with that version of her story, simply because Sharapova is one of the most well-staffed and well-managed players on the circuit. Even if she didn’t click the link, her management and her coach would have certainly been keeping up with the additions to the banned substances, right? Right. So, then there’s this new story – apparently, Sharapova was warned FIVE TIMES about the new meldonium ban.

Maria Sharapova was warned at least five times by tennis authorities that the drug meldonium had been banned in the month before she failed a doping test at the Australian Open. In addition, the Russia’s athletics federation has today said it had repeatedly warned athletes and coaches not to take meldonium.

Sharapova, 28, announced on Monday that she had been caught in a doping test after taking the drug, which became a banned substance in January. The five-times Grand Slam winner claimed that it was an honest mistake, as she had taken the drug, sold as Mildronate in Russia, for ten years and had failed to notice that it had been banned.

However, three correspondences from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and two from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) were sent to players containing warnings that meldonium was to be banned, according to the Times. In addition, the World Anti-Doping Agency had also give players notice of the new ban as early as September last year.

This followed a statement by the Russian athletics federation (ARAF) on Wendesday entitled: ‘To the attention of sports people and coaches. The ARAF has on multiple occasions warned sports people, coaches, and support staff that, since Jan. 1 this year meldonium is included in the list of the banned substances.’

[From The Daily Mail]

At some point, it becomes willful ignorance and willful ignorance is never an excuse. Except that I don’t even think this is willful ignorance: it seems more and more like she was just blatantly lying.

Meanwhile, Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington has chimed in, and she makes a similar point, saying:

“As an athlete, you check everything and you have other people checking everything too – especially as the rules regularly change. Even if I just had a headache and picked up some painkillers from the pharmacy, I checked everything. I was so efficient because I never wanted to be caught out by something that wasn’t my fault. Maria has said she didn’t read the updated list [of banned substances] properly – I’m not going to lie, I haven’t read letters properly in the past. But she should have a support team around her that is checking all of this. Surely they would have known? My coach always knew what I was taking.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

And again, that’s where Sharapova’s story keeps falling apart. So she somehow missed the FIVE warnings. So she didn’t click on a link. But she has a whole team of professionals around her, some of the best people in the tennis world. She wants you to believe that no one on her team was on top of this?

Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.

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98 Responses to “Maria Sharapova was warned five times about the banning of meldonium”

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  1. LadyMTL says:

    Yeahhhhh, now I’m starting to side-eye her whole story. Okay, so you didn’t click on a link in an email? Fine, we all do that now and then. But she’s got a whole team of people working with her, and now she was supposedly warned several times?

    Methinks she knew very well what she was doing when she took that drug even after the ban, she was just crossing her fingers and hoping that her excuse would hold water…which it now totally doesn’t.

    • Capepopsie says:

      My exact feeling too!

    • doofus says:

      me, too. I was initially supporting her, but COME. ON.

    • Dani2 says:

      MTE. 100%.

    • BritAfrica says:

      Thank you LadyM.

      Methinks too that it was taken for enhancing properties but her ‘team’ rolled out their considerable PR machine to make their girl look innocent. To be honest, that is what they are paid for and it is hardly a difficult thing to do when she looks the way she does.

      But how they now explain the barrage of ‘missed’ opportunities they received, all the times she was warned to manage this drug off her take list, is going to be mesmerising.

      As they say, the truth will out…

    • Grolf says:

      Doesn’t make sense that she knew the drug had been banned. The fact that she is “well-managed” argues AGAINST her knowing the drug was banned. Do you think her management WANTED to get booted from advertising contracts? Really? The only explanation that makes sense is that it was a simple mistake (and that there is a lot of anti-Russian bias in the West). People need to stop hating the Russians. We all have bad leaders from time to time. Your views on Putin should not reflect on the Russian people.

      • Jwoolman says:

        I agree. She knew she would be tested and the serious consequences, so it makes no sense at all for her to continue the drug if she knew it was banned. I also wonder how long it takes to clear the system so any trace would be below the detectable limit. But it’s possible whoever was checking the list didn’t know she was taking it or simply messed up. The idea that she kept taking it despite knowing it was banned just doesn’t seem reasonable so her story does make sense to me.

  2. LAK says:

    Her excuse is *reasonable* enough for people who won’t look any further. Especially if all the sports world’s superstars are publicly supporting her and patting her on th back for coming forward.

    It becomes a case of ‘if Martina Navratilova says it’s an honest mistake, then it must be’.

    • Original T.C. says:

      The I did not “click the link” telling me not to keep taking that illegal drug I benefit from taking doesn’t even pass the “Mom test”. I would be more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt if she said that as a mature professional Athlete she looked at the list and didn’t recognize the drug because the name was different from the one she takes.

      But this isn’t a young naive woman standing alone as in the press conference. This is a multi-multi millionaire athlete with huge Nike sponsorship and a MACHINE behind her also getting rich. They check every single molecule she ingests leading up to a competition or off season. Just like when you go to your doctor’s office and have to list every drug you take and he/she double checks it.

      Additionally this drug is not taken by people for the medical problems she lists: Magnesium deficiency, possible diabetes, 1-2 irregular EKG’s. This is for serious heart symptoms showing you may be at risk for a heart attack in which case you wouldn’t even be able to play competitive High school sports.

      • abby says:

        That would be believable but the WADA announcement that was emailed in September lists the drug under both names

        WADA 2016 Prohibited List

        S4: Hormone and Metabolic Modulators

        Insulin-mimetics were added to the List to include all insulin-receptor agonists.

        Meldonium (Mildronate) was added because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance.

        Link – http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/major-changes-2016-prohibited-list/

        Willful ignorance indeed!

        Anyway, as far as I am concerned, Maria came forward to protect her own interests. As I posted on the Serene thread, Maria’s announcement was an act to appeal to the ruling body for a reduction of any future ban the ITF imposes on her. It was purely calculated PR. I am quoting one of the ITF rules below:

        “Article 10.6 of the tennis anti-doping rules also allows for further reductions if a player assists the process, including prompt admission of a doping violation upon notification. Such reductions cannot bring it down to more than a quarter of the original suspension.”

        See link – http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/03/sharapova-danger-missing-extended-time-seeking-reduced-ban/57839/#.VuA8530rKt8

        So Maria is just trying to cut down her ban and save her endorsements. This has nothing to do with integrity or courage.

        But the fact is that warnings were sent out from as early as September and according to various reports – WADA, Russian Anti-Doping and various other outlets sent notices of the updated list. No less than 5 updates were sent in December alone – http://fortune.com/2016/03/09/maria-sharapova-drug-test-warning/
        So Maria’s excuse is falling apart by the minute. See if she took the drug by mistake, she was facing a 2 year ban that she could haggle down to 1 yr or maybe even a few months. Who knows she could be back for Rio Olympics.

        But now it’s looking more and more like she intentionally took it. That’s a 4 year ban.

        Will, the ITF to throw the book at her – I doubt it. But we’ll see how serious tennis is about address doping if they let their media darling get off soft.

      • mytake says:

        Plus, doesn’t she have a candy company? If she was so concerned about diabetes, why would she have her own sugar line — ya know?

  3. Lama Bean says:

    Yup. Not buying it.

  4. Anett says:

    She should have said that she was taking this drug to enchance or keep up her performance. It was not illegal. Instead of saying the truth she started lying. As it turns out other sportmen or women’s hands are also caught in the cookie jar, some are Russians. So it seems like it is widespread and everyday routine to take this now drug.

    I am not surprised that Capriati threw a lot of shade at her.

    She is a lying, unpleasant, arrogant, shriekova.

    • perplexed says:

      Honestly, I don’t get why she took the drug past January. She used it for performance enhancing, but at that point it wasn’t illegal. So if she used it for 10 years, that seems fair since no one said you couldn’t use it. However, once January came, I would have dropped that off my list like a hot potato and moved on to something else that was performance enhancing but legal. I figure there must be other drugs that can do the same thing but haven’t been banned yet.

  5. Ariel says:

    How people can look at this situation, where this pretty, blonde, mediocre professional tennis player is treated with kid gloves and lauded for her honesty even as her story/excuse reads like bullshit, and not see the white privilege-
    knowing how people would react to this news from the great Ms. Williams, how brutally they treat her missteps and how blasé they are about her accomplishments;
    and seeing how much more money the pretty white girl makes as a spokesmodel, even though Ms. Williams is far and away the better athlete-
    How do people NOT SEE the racism and the white privilege.
    It is astonishing to me, the blindness.

    • The Eternal Side-Eye says:

      Thank. You.

      People are acting like this all wasn’t a very deliberate decision to cheat that backfired on her.

      Don’t worry the defenses for this white mediocre talent will be long standing and far reaching.

      Maybe she didn’t know how to read her email? Did anyone think that about poor Maria?

    • Maum says:

      While I agree with your post I think there’s more to it on the sporting side. She is hardly ‘mediocre’. She’s one of the most recognisable faces of tennis and a multiple slam winner.

      If you took this scenario on the men’s side it would be the equivalent of Murray getting busted. There also have been multiple rumours about Nadal who has been ‘injured’ repeatedly and whose blood was apparently found liked to a ‘blood bank’ kept by a Spanish doctor involved in multiple cycling doping cases.

      i think ultimately a lot of people want the story to be true to protect the sport.

      • Amelia says:

        @Muam – I’d be prepared to bet my flat’s security deposit that Nadal dopes or has doped in the past.
        And the Operaćion Puerto debacle was a complete clusterf*ck – 211 bags of blood and plasma that were likely stored in order for athletes to dope via blood transfusion were ordered to be destroyed by a Spanish judge, thereby getting rid of a shitload of evidence into the doping ring surrounding Eufemiano Fuentes. (The UCI, WADA and the Spanish and Italian sports councils are appealing this decision. Supposedly a verdict was to be reached in January).
        It’s speculated by those in the know that Nadal was one of the higher profile names on that list, along with a good chunk of the Spanish national football team (although, a handful of a cyclists were the only ones to face sanctions).

      • Sixer says:

        That one is a real sh!tstorm and totally under-reported.

      • Another Nina says:

        Amelia, I’m with you on Nadal. And with all due respect – can someone explain to me a miraculous case of Noval Dj, who was a child of war, who never could complete a match at the time of juniors – he always, and I mean 100 pct of matches at Wimbledon required help of an emergency Doctor. And then one day he becomes a champion of endurance all thanks to gluten free diet. Seriously! Tennis at its highest level is full of doping.

      • Amelia says:

        Nina, I completely agree re Djokovic.
        He’s a talented player, no doubt, but oxygen tents and a gluten free diet don’t add up to a sudden shift to dominating the tour.
        I reckon Murray and Federer are clean, same for Nishikori, but I have major doubts about a lot of the other top 10 😔

      • Maum says:

        RE Djokovic- Even as an older player at the beginning of his career he was renowned for retiring in the fourth/fifth with an ‘injury’.
        It used to incense BBC tennis commentators- a lot of whom are retired players. They would constantly call him on his lack of respect at robbing his opponent of clean victories.
        I was always very dubious of how Novak suddenly became untouchable. As you said the whole gluten free approach doesn’t explain the injuries and the sudden jump in his game.

        In fact out of all the top class players Federer is the only one who has been rarely injured and who also spent most of his career playing (and winning) without a coach.
        I think Roger is clean. I hope so because in his prime he was the most glorious player I’ve ever seen. 🙂

    • Amelia says:

      I don’t mean to be an asshat who’s missing the point of your post, but as contentious as Sharapova is, to call her mediocre isn’t quite accurate. Over-sponsored in comparison to others on the tour? Probably.
      But a grand slam winner at 17 who then won 4 more? Even though her game’s gone down since then, it’s difficult to describe her as mediocre.
      /leaves pedants corner

      • Sticks says:

        Well said, Amelia. Agree there is a valid point being made but when one reads “mediocre” to describe Maria, who is undeniably talented, the rest of what is said automatically loses some credibility. And that’s unfortunate.

    • spidey says:

      Not sure it is so much white privilege as female pretty privilege. Remember Marion Bartoli and the rude comments John Inverdale made about her looks – wouldn’t have said that about a guy?

      I call this the Princess Di syndrome because she always got far more of a pass because she was good looking than she would have done if she was plain.

      • nikko says:

        It’s a combination of both, white pretty girl privilege.

      • Maum says:

        That’s a great name for it! Back in the day Sarah Ferguson was killed by the British press and all the while pretty Diana was worshipped.

    • Dani2 says:

      Yeah, I can only imagine how different this would’ve played out from the very outset if it had been Serena in her place. I agree with the others though that I wouldn’t call her mediocre, although I’ve never been a fan of hers really.

      • OGBklynGirl says:

        Serena would have been COMPLETELY crucified. The media has treated Sharapova with the softest kid gloves.

      • Evyn says:

        I’m pretty sure they would have stripped Serena of all her trophies 2 seconds after the press conference.

      • Another Nina says:

        Well, Carl Lewis admitted that he failed 3 drug test during 1988 Olympics trials. nobody stripped him of any medals/records. Why would they have treated Serena any different?

    • Adrien says:

      Hardly treated with kid’s glove. She was banned and several corporate sponsors dropped her as endorser. Perhaps people weren’t that scandalized because the substance wasn’t banned in other countries and also she’s no longer at the top of heap and her career was waning anyway. Now imagine if this was Ronda Rousey, this whole thing will be on the main headlines and top of twitter trending topics daily.

      • Edwin says:

        Yes she has been treated with kid gloves, those endorsements u talk about will only be temporary. I guarantee u they are awaiting her return. I can see the headlines now Maria took a setback for a even bigger comeback. This is white entitlement for u. Russia has always had a history of cheating. This same banned drug was originally only to be used for 2-4 weeks only, she claim of using it for the past 10 years which enhance her endurance is a unfair advantage. More will be revealed and it won’t be kind to her watch what I say.

      • New_Kay says:

        Her narrative is NOT playing out the same way other way of other (black) athletes accused of doping. I’ve heard very little about sponsors dropping her. The commentary is overwhelmingly ‘oh what a shame that she didn’t know the drug was banned.” Excuse me, but as an athlete, isn’t it your job to know these things? Or at the very least the people around you? This is absolutely white privilege… j

      • vilebody says:

        @New_Kay
        Unless you’ve been reading RT or other Russian media, I have no idea where you get that idea. Her sponsors have been dropping her like a hot potato and the overwhelming narrative is that her excuse is total nonsense.

      • Another Nina says:

        Edwin – a great number of Eastern European athletes used this particular medicine as part of their preparation process for competitions. This med has been banned only for the past 70 days. Why are you furious about last 10 years? She is guilty of having used it after Jan 1 and she admitted it.You are talking about some “may be” unfair treatment in the future, all while engaging in double standarding right here right now.

    • NUTBALLS says:

      It’s privilege of the beauty, wealth, celebrity type. They get a sense of entitlement and think they’re above the law with their staff and fans that cater to their whims and tell them they’re amazing and treat them like they’re the center of the universe.

      As I said yesterday, even low-profile athletes are surrounded by people who are keeping tabs on the law as it applies to banned substances. Someone with 70 million dollar endorsement deals has many (coaches, managers, physicians) who know what the rules are and will communicate with her accordingly. She got caught and now she’s backpedaling — plain and simple. I hope they ban her for years to make an example of her.

      • ickythump says:

        They think they are above the law because they are – she broke the story before she was outed – and everyone fell for the batting of the eyelashes dumb blond bs she was spouting. I hear this drug is for the treatment of heart problems or diabetes – if she has neither why was she taking if for 10 years? And her “people” didn’t know? That has got to be crap – they must’ve known but they thought (apparently correctly) that the world would be dazzled by her looks and “honesty”in her press conference…..she appears to be a cheat. End of.

    • Betsy says:

      Is that white privilege or is it sports privilege? I just assume they’re all doping. Hardly any of them ever really gets punished, even when they’re doing drugs to get high.

      • perplexed says:

        I think it’s white privilege, or at least good looking white privilege, in terms of the media giving her the benefit of the doubt so easily when her press conference first happened. I don’t expect the other athletes to call her out, because who knows what they’re doing, but the media seemed initially to believe she had made an honest mistake with the e-mail business. I don’t know if a person of colour in track and field, even one that is considered good-looking, would have necessarily been given the benefit of the doubt like that.

        If we weren’t living in the age of social media and blog commentary, a lot of us would probably look no further and continue believing that she made an honest mistake with the e-mail. I think the one thing that could undo her is social media. But in any other media age, she’d probably continue to be teflon because of how she looks.

      • Sixer says:

        I think media reaction and reporting often reflects white privilege. And girl next door pretty privilege. A muscular white woman wouldn’t have got an initially kindly hearing. Nor any black or brown woman. And a muscular black or brown woman such as Serena would be crucified from moment one. Just look at the circus poor Caster Semenya was subjected to. It was horrendous. And that wasn’t even doping. But she was reported salaciously and as a cheat.

        But I agree with you about sport and doping. I wouldn’t go out on a limb to lionise ANY sports star as a non-doper. It’s endemic in almost all sport these days. Defend someone at your peril, because it could easily be them in the headlines next. I was devastated when Tyson Gay got caught. He’d been my favourite non-Brit sprinter for years and years and I totally believed in his integrity.

    • idontknowyouyoudontknowme says:

      i fully agree about the privilege and the bias people have.
      However I would also add that personally I don’t find her looks to be all that at all.. I don’t really get the hype with her.. she does have considerable talent, so not an Anna Kournikova v2, however this is blatant lying.. I do wonder how many athletes are out there who also engage in dopping, I really hope nothing comes out about Serena 🙁

    • idsmith says:

      I agree with you 100%. On another news site every one of the comments was supporting Maria “she shouldn’t be punished too hard” “It was for HEALTH reasons!”. Why do people buy that story? I call B.S on the health reasons. I saw a news report last night that stated the drug she took is never prescribed by doctors for any more than 6 months maximum and only in very rare cases. OF COURSE an athlete taking banned substances is going to come out with excuses. OF COURSE they will claim it wasn’t cheating. But people are lining up to take her side because she’s a cute, blonde, white woman. These same commenters were also bashing Serena accusing her of taking steroids and assuming she never gets tested. Oh come on!

    • Original T.C. says:

      I partly agree. It is partly white privilege but of the Taylor Swift kind:pretty blonde, innocent and vulnerable looking who couldn’t hurt a fly or be smart enough to know these things. Like I said yesterday place Tom Brady in her place and see the blood bath from the press.

    • Anne tommy says:

      She has behaved at best stupidly but she is far from mediocre. And as for white privilege- the U.S. Sprinter Carl Lewis – not white – got away with flagrant doping, which was covered up. The Canadian Ben Johnson rightly was stripped of his medals but Carl retains his Olympic medals and world records. And he wasn’t pretty either.

    • The Original Mia says:

      Preach it!

  6. M.A.F. says:

    It’s possible, just possible, that her coach(es) and/or managers never bother to tell her because they figured they wouldn’t get caught. Coach(es) and managers can be shady. But she is a grown adult and she too could have looked.

  7. JenniferJustice says:

    Sorry, but she knew exactly what she was doing and was just hoping she wouldn’t get caught or that if she did get caught, her excuse about a Magnesium deficiency would fly. Bummer. Another awesome athlete bites the dust.

  8. The Eternal Side-Eye says:

    Girl bye.

    The only people buying this are the ones who want to believe you.

    So the people arranging that $70 million deal for you from Nike didn’t think it was important to tell you to stop using that banned drug that could get you expelled from the sport and lose all your endorsements/sponsorships? Wow you poor angel. How could all that bad luck just mysteriously happen to you?

    • Pinky says:

      She has always been using it to enhance her performance. This is not the drug one would prescribe to treat any of the ailments she listed. Plus, even the inventor of the drug said AT MOST one is to use it for 4-6 weeks, NOT TEN YEARS! So she’s an all-out liar.

      Dick Pound, former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said her continued use of it since September of last year was “reckless beyond description.” Yeah, this girl-idiot is toast!

      http://m.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35757814

      -TheRealPinky

  9. Esther says:

    even if the only point was that she didnt click on a link it would still be her fault. not knowing something does not make it legal. everyone would claim ignorance then.

    if people paid me 70 million i’d read my emails.

  10. willful ignorance says:

    Who knows what the truth is?

    Only one person and she clearly is lying.

    I do feel bad for her in a small way.

    It always sucks to be found out to be a liar

    • JenniferJustice says:

      Just as bad or worse to be exposed as a cheater…and she is. I don’t want to hear her excuses. She knew what she was doing and why and it wasn’t because she has a magnesium deficiency. Pretty sure there are vitamin supplements and I know for certain there is magnesium sulfate in every Rite Aid and Walgreens across the country – commonly used for constipation. Don’t know why I included that last bit other than it’s funny. “Drink this stuff so you poop!”

  11. Anon33 says:

    WHEN (because this has happened to me) I’ve tried to use the old “I didn’t read the email” excuse with my boss, it has never ever flown, and it shouldn’t fly here. Not sure why or how people are arguing that she was somehow exempted from having to read emails that are directly related to the performance of her job.

  12. Alex says:

    Willful ignorance is right. She’s not brave or taking responsibility…she trying to get ahead of the inevitable

  13. Kelly says:

    After Lance Armstrong, Sammy Sosa, and all the other athletes that have either been caught or accused of cheating, for ANY professional or non-pro for that matter to say they don’t know what drugs are legal is ridiculous.

  14. Peanutbuttr says:

    A lot of athletes, mostly Eastern Europeans, are getting caught. Among the fish were Olympic Gold Medallists in figure skating and speed skating.

    The big hole for me is, Sharapova has lived in America for a long time, likely uses American doctors. Why would her doctor give her a drug that wasn’t FDA approved

    • BearcatLawyer says:

      She did not get this drug in the US from a US doctor. She got it overseas. Although it is not FDA-approved for use in the US, it is not a controlled substance or illegal narcotic either. As long as she had a legitimate prescription and purchased it in a country where it was legal to be sold, she likely would face few issues bringing it back into the US with her.

    • Bridget says:

      Russians are likely banned from this year’s Olympic track & field events because of systemic doping issues. It’s bad.

  15. Tiffany says:

    I thought she did not come across well at the press conference and now these stories are just pilling on.

    But to know that if you are not feeling
    well, going to the pharmacy to get cold medicine will require a staff to see if its banned. That is something I can be sympathetic to for them. I loves my Nyquil.

  16. swak says:

    I so agree with the Olympic swimmer, Rebecca Adlington, that you, as the athlete, must be on top of everything. And this is true for all things in your life. You should never completely rely on someone else to keep you informed.

  17. Jayna says:

    I think she had been on it so long she was terrified to go off right before a tournament and decided to stay on the first month of the ban being in effect. She lost anyway, so it didn’t matter in the long run. Plus, she got caught. She took the risk and is now paying for it.

    • Bridget says:

      10 years. I cannot believe she was on that drug for so long, especially for off-label use. I agree that it probably threw off her game to try to cease it’s use after that long, not to mention any withdrawal symptoms.

  18. Christine says:

    Also, this drug is only meant to be used for 4-6 weeks, not 10 years….to me that says she knew its performance enhancing effects and used it for that. And then didn’t know it was banned? Girl, please. I’m white and privileged and if anyone thinks Serena wouldn’t be crucified for the same thing is just as willfully ignorant as Maria.

    • The Eternal Side-Eye says:

      Yeah the explanation of why she’s even on this drug doesn’t add up.

      Like you said the intended use for this drug isn’t how she’s claiming it and if she needed it that way there were better options. It wasn’t FDA approved for the U.S. so she was already choosing to take something that could cause conflict in her testing. She was taking it far longer than prescribed and using lame excuses for why she didn’t stop.

      She’s caught and she knows it.

    • Dani2 says:

      Her story doesn’t really add up tbh.

    • noway says:

      The reason she was on the drug seems easy enough to check with her doctor. Most drugs have multiple reasons for use so who knows. I am sure she will make her case to tennis officials. What kind of punishment do you want her to have? They haven’t determined her suspension which could be up to four years essentially ending her career. She has lost most of her endorsements. A lot of people are bashing her, sure some aren’t but that is always the case. Other than Lance Armstrong, who seriously was the doper and cheater of all athletes, I can’t think of any that have gotten more of a punishment than that.

      • perplexed says:

        I think her endorsements have been suspended, not necessarily officially lost. Maybe the suspension from Nike came earlier than expected, but perhaps Nike thought her story was full of holes. Those endorsements could still come back if her crisis management team plays the PR game correctly.

        She was called brave and courageous for revealing what she did, and I think those kinds of descriptors are extremely unusual for a doping case.

      • noway says:

        Some people called her brave for speaking out including Serena Williams, and I see the point. She is one of the few world class athletes I can think of who have tested positive and immediately says she did it and will take responsibility for it. Yes she is explaining how it happened, and I realize some don’t believe her explanation still it is different than the norm.

        Not sure her crisis management will be able to manage this just read the comments on here and other sport sites, even Serena is getting blasted for her opinion on this. The headline to one story was How stupid can Sharapova be? Also, Tag Heur has cancelled its agreement along with others doubt Nike will be back unless this goes away, and it doesn’t look like it. My problem is yes this is bad, but she needs to be punished appropriately. It is a newly banned substance and her first failed drug test. If anyone doesn’t think athletes use legal substances, that may become banned to give them an advantage they are living under a rock. With her age, I hope it isn’t the end of her career.

      • perplexed says:

        “Some people called her brave for speaking out including Serena Williams, and I see the point”

        I kind of viewed Serena’s comment as “What else can she say?” If she had said anything slightly negative, the media would have blasted her and pitted her against Sharapova.

        “Yes she is explaining how it happened, and I realize some don’t believe her explanation still it is different than the norm.”

        I think it was different from the norm in the sense that she appeared to be allowed the possibility to tell her side of the story before the WTA or any other organization could make the announcement. She was allowed the opportunity to get ahead of the story, whereas with other athletes all I can remember is some organization dropping the bomb for them and then the media piling on them. Obviously, I can see why the media would pile on Lance Armstrong since all he ever did was deny, deny, deny, but with other athletes I usually see the organization making the announcement, not the athlete themselves. I’m now wondering how often other athletes are given the chance to announce the bombshell themselves. In Olympic cases, I can’t recall an athlete being given the chance to do a press conference to define the narrative.

  19. Yoyo says:

    And? What do you think was her intent? To lie and be banned from competition. They would have found the medication in her blood anyway. What’s the point of lying?

    • Christine says:

      Very often, criminals never think they’ll be caught. Maybe her team thought they had a way to beat the system, or maybe they thought they wouldn’t test for it so soon after the ban.

      • noway says:

        This is not a criminal act. She didn’t go in back rooms and get the illegal drug, she was proscribed it by a doctor. Even if she is suspended for life it isn’t criminal at all.

      • spidey says:

        @ noway, if she has lived in the US for the last however many years, where it is a banned drug, how could her “family doctor” have prescribed it?

      • Another Nina says:

        Spidey, she has a legal residence in the US but for job purposes she travels around the world for 9 months out of 12. Why is she obliged to have a family doctor only in the US? How so?

    • Anon33 says:

      Point is, not everyone thinks or behaves like you. I would never do this and I try not to lie ever but that doesn’t have anything to do with her.

    • Colette says:

      What is the point of any athlete lying? She is also lying about why she takes that particular medication.Magnesium deficiency? Family history of Diabetes? So that’s the only medication available to deal with those issues ,GMAB.

  20. Adrien says:

    Maybe she was too busy managing her overpriced candy business.

    • Christine says:

      But she was supposedly on the banned drug because of a family history of diabetes. So she is so concerned about diabetes, that she opens an international candy brand? Whaaaa????

      • Merritt says:

        Diabetics use candy for when they are experiencing a low blood sugar. It is pretty common for diabetics to have “low snacks” with them most of the time.

        However, I doubt that has anything to do with Sharapova and her candy business.

  21. Deedee says:

    How long does that drug last in one’s system? Not making excuses for her, because she should have stopped the drug in anticipation of testing by 1/1, but I was just wondering.

    • BearcatLawyer says:

      I believe a previous poster said that if she had stopped taking it, all of it would have washed out of her system in about 3 days. So mathematically speaking, it was impossible for her not to have taken it during the Australian Open.

  22. noway says:

    I don’t think it is this huge lying cheating conspiracy, and my main reason is she was caught one month after the ban. Just seems too stupid to get caught that early especially with an athlete that has been in the sport for a while. Could have happened, but seems more likely someone screwed up, and she is the ultimate person responsible so she screwed up. Granted some are giving her the benefit of the doubt, but she still is getting a lot of flack. She may be suspended, and she has lost a boatload of endorsements. People gave a lot of athletes the benefit of the doubt not sure how this is different. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark Mcguire all looked like they were blown up to blimp status, and they still got the benefit of the doubt for years by the majority of fans. The only difference is she is talking, and now we don’t like that. Even if you think she is lying previously most athletes just ignored the questions.

    My question with these banned substances is this was supposedly prescribed to her for 10 years for some deficiency in her blood. Do any of these banned substances really have a medical purpose that might necessitate their use, and if that is the case can they get a medical allowance? I have to admit, I am kind of angry with the use of strong narcotics for pain, but the inability to proscribe medical marijuana, which is probably safer for some of the athletes. Never really looked at the list, but it seems like this could be fraught with fraud as drug companies work to make sure their drugs aren’t on the list.

  23. Merritt says:

    At the end of the day the athlete is responsible for the medications they are taking and knowing about doping regulations. Whether she paid attention to doping regulations changes or not seems immaterial.

    • noway says:

      To the first time offender if they believe it is an honest mistake her punishment could be less. There is a reason for propagating her “version” of what happened. After reading some of the comments above, I think a very logical answer is she was on it for so long and she was afraid to be off it for a big tournament. She took a chance, and got caught.

  24. Betsy says:

    Meldonium (or “meld onion” according to autocorrect) sounds like a made up poison on Scooby Doo.

    • elle says:

      Hahaha… it totally does.

      If she has a magnesium deficiency, why not just take… magnesium.

  25. Defaultgirl says:

    She knows exactly what’s going on in her career. She was doping and knew about all along. Don’t let that ‘girl next door’ face fool you.

  26. perplexed says:

    Now I’m wondering why she didn’t come up with a better excuse. Her crisis team had to know that the info about warnings and such would come out.

  27. Tig says:

    For starters, there are multiple drugs that are perfectly safe and used world-wide- and not approved by the FDA. But that’s another discussion for another day.
    Anyone remember Hingis sitting out her suspension all those years ago, and now she’s back playing doubles. Or at least she was last year or so.

    • Jwoolman says:

      Yes, the FDA is not the only drug regulatory agency in the world. Russia has its own regulations as well. Drugs go through testing and approval elsewhere. I’ve often translated material from non-US manufacturers (including some in Russia) who are looking for FDA approval only because they want to expand into the U.S. market. So they need all their prior documents and trial records and approval records translated into English. So the fact that it isn’t FDA-approved doesn’t mean it’s a bad drug or there is anything shady about it. The tennis people banned it only because they feel it’s being used for enhancing performance in addition to the usual medical indications.

  28. TessD says:

    Well, in that case she was definitely aware of what she was doing. I thought her doctor might have been negligent but no, it’s all her doing. Honest mistake it was not.

  29. GoLightly says:

    She obviously has very good PR people who directed her to get it front of the story with a press con. Their efficiency in handling this situation makes it even more unbelievable that the rest of her team would be so inept that they would not know about the ban. The more I read about this story, the more it seems to me that she was caught red-handed because she could not wean herself off her dependence on a PED.

  30. Bess says:

    Did anyone else find it odd that Maria has lived in the US for over 20 years and yet her “family doctor” is in Russia?

    • Another Nina says:

      As a member of Russian national team, she is entitled to use the best local doctors, who work with the team. Furthermore, as a member of the team, she is obliged to consult with them. It is a regular practice.

    • Jwoolman says:

      Why not? She visits there often enough, I assume. Lots of very good doctors in Russia. As a matter of fact, Russia is a popular location today for clinical trials because the doctors themselves are likely to be hands-on in collecting the data and dealing with the patients rather than assigning staff to the job. And the population is literate (far more so than in the U.S.) and tends to comply well with doctor’s instructions. Patient non-compliance is a major problem in trials and in treatment in general.

      Interesting fun fact: most physicians in Russia are women.

  31. Anne says:

    hmm. the more information comes out, the more it seems that she was taking this drug to boost performance.

    maybe the media is treating her with kid gloves because this substance WASN’T BANNED for the ten or so years she was using it. she found a “legal” way to boost performance and, at risk to her own health, she took advantage of it. i may be alone, but that doesn’t feel so wrong to me.

    she just should have stopped after it was reclassified.

    • Jwoolman says:

      Loads of things can boost performance, and not just prescription drugs. For instance, Vitamin E can improve lung capacity in tests on athletes. I discovered this accidentally myself when I took a chewable Vitamin E supplement in the middle of recorder (vertical flute) practice. Within ten to fifteen minutes (about the time required for a chewable to disperse through the body), I suddenly was able to hold a note for several measures – something I couldn’t do for the previous part of the session and the weeks of practice before it (alto part, we get those kinds of held notes sometimes….). I looked up the research to see if anybody else had observed this.

      Almost seems like a losing battle to try to even the playing field by banning performance-enhancing substances. So many options today, OTC and prescription.