The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in thearbitration procedure between Maria Sharapova and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). TheCAS Panel in charge of the matter has reduced her period of suspension, by nine months, from twoyears to fifteen months, beginning on 26 January 2016.
On 1 January 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s latest list of prohibited substances came intoforce and included Meldonium for the first time. In March 2016, Ms Sharapova was informed by theITF that a sample she provided on 26 January 2016, during the 2016 Australian Open tennistournament, had tested positive for the presence of Meldonium. Ms Sharapova waived her right to havethe B sample tested and publicly announced that she had inadvertently committed an anti-doping ruleviolation as a result of taking Mildronate tablets that had been prescribed by her doctor for many yearssince she and her team had failed to notice that Meldonium, marketed as Mildronate, now featured onthe Prohibited List.
On 6 June 2016, the Independent Tribunal appointed by the ITF to hear the player’s case found thatMs Sharapova had committed an anti-doping rule violation, disqualified her results at the2016 Australian Open, and imposed a period of ineligibility of two years on the player. On 9 June2016, Ms Sharapova filed an appeal at the CAS against the Independent Tribunal’s decision, arguingthat she did not take Mildronate to enhance her performance and that her period of ineligibility shouldbe reduced on the basis of "No Significant Fault". The ITF requested that the Panel reject the player’splea of "No Significant Fault" and leave the Independent Tribunal’s decision undisturbed.
The arbitration was conducted by a panel of CAS arbitrators: Prof. Luigi Fumagalli, Italy (President),Mr Jeffrey G. Benz, USA and Mr David W. Rivkin, USA. The Panel held a hearing with the parties inNew York on 7 and 8 September 2016.
For more information, please contact:
Matthieu Reeb
CAS Secretary General
Email: media@tas-cas.org
Tel: (41 21) 613 50 00
Fax: (41 21) 613 50
Katy Hogg
Communications Officer
Email: media@tas-cas.org
Tel: (41 21) 613 50 00
Fax: (41 21) 613 50
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics iswww.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
