Maria Sharapova dropped a bombshell on Monday night
when she admitted testing positive for a banned substance at January's
Australian Open.
The five-time Grand Slam champion made a statement
at a Los Angeles hotel confessing she had been caught out by the tennis
anti-doping operation. The International Tennis Federation then announced that
she will be provisionally suspended from March 12.
The world's highest-earning sportswoman said she
had been found to have taken meldonium, which was prohibited from January 1
this year. The revelation is catastrophic news for her, the sport and women's
tennis in particular.
'I had legally been taking this for 10 years,' said
Sharapova. 'I take responsibility for my professionalism in my job and I made a
big mistake. I know there will be consequences and I don't want to end my
career this way. I really hope I will be given another chance to play tennis
again. I can't blame anyone but myself. I have let my fans down.'
Sharapova lost in the quarter-final to Serena
Williams at the Australian Open and will have to pay back her prize money of
£209,000 from the event, although that will be of little consequence to the
multi-millionaire.
A statement from the ITF said Sharapova provided a
sample on January 26 and that she was charged with an anti-doping violation on
March 2 after the sample tested positive for meldonium.
The statement added: 'As meldonium is a
non-specified substance under the WADA list of Prohibited Substances and
Prohibited Methods, Ms Sharapova will be provisionally suspended with effect
from 12 March, pending determination of the case.'
Sharapova conceded that she had received a
notification from the International Tennis Federation on December 22 that the
substance was being outlawed. She admitted that she did not follow an
information link that was provided.
The 28-year-old faces a ban of several years,
having been informed of the finding 'a few days ago'. She said this was
unrelated to her withdrawal from the Indian Wells event this week, as she is
injured anyway.
'It is very important for you to understand that
for 10 years this medicine was not on WADA's banned list and I had legally been
taking the medicine for the past 10 years,' insisted the Russian. 'But on
January 1 the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance
which I had not known.'
Sharapova claimed that she was initially given it
in 2006 by her 'family doctor' due to health issues such as a magnesium
deficiency and a genetic disposition towards diabetes. However, the substance
which is mainly available in Eastern Europe is said to have become a drug of
choice for Russian athletes implicated in cheating in other sports.
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