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Post by Admin on Oct 5, 2016 2:09:54 GMT
Seeking a reduction from a two-year suspension for an anti-doping violation, Maria Sharapova didn’t get everything she wanted. Her legal team argued to the Court of Arbitration for Sport that the ruling from the International Tennis Federation should at a minimum be reduced to one year and possibly to eight months, the time she has already been suspended. The decision of the three-member CAS panel to reduce her ban to 15 months counts as a win for the tennis star, though. In a 28-page decision, the CAS panel disagreed with the conclusions of the ITF tribunal that in June issued the initial suspension for her use of meldonium, asserted anti-doping agencies should have provided clearer notice to athletes and found Sharapova’s violation was without significant fault. The CAS panel said since no question of intent to violate anti-doping rules was before it that “under no circumstances, therefore, can the player be considered to be an ‘intentional doper.’” In another post following Tuesday's decision, Sharapova called it one of her "happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April." She also called on the International Tennis Federation to look into better ways to notify athletes of changes to doping regulations.
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Post by Admin on Oct 6, 2016 1:31:51 GMT
Speaking out for the first time since her doping ban was reduced from two years to 15 months, tennis star Maria Sharapova says her initial penalty was unfair, labeling it "one of the toughest things" she's ever had to face as a professional athlete. "For an honest mistake, a two-year ban, I don't think was correct," Sharapova told Matt Lauer on TODAY Wednesday. "The biggest lesson for me is that I don't think anything is handed to you in life that you can't handle,'' she said. "As an athlete, this is probably one of the toughest things that I've had to handle. You think why is this happening, what is the real core message, but at the end of the day it makes you stronger. "I'm 29 years old and I have an incredible future ahead of me, and I just can't wait to get back on the court."
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Post by Admin on Oct 8, 2016 1:16:19 GMT
Maria Sharapova will return to professional tennis next April 26 - one week after she turns 30 years old, and 15 months after a positive doping test at the 2016 Australian Open derailed her career. IMG, the agency that represents her, came prepared: an e-mail containing several documents containing some of the backup for Sharapova’s defence, a “statement of facts” and a statement from Sharapova arrived via e-mail shortly after the official verdict was announced at 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Sharapova is already scheduled for the Charlie Rose show later Tuesday: “In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back. Tennis is my passion and I have missed it. I am counting the days until I can return to the court. I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well,” was part of Sharapova’s statement. There are pages and pages of legalese surrounding this process, which has played out over more than six months.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2016 2:01:38 GMT
Sharapova admits that she bore some fault. Not a lot of fault. She didn’t intentionally dope. Generally she was on top of this anti-doping stuff. She goofed that one time; her agent messed up. The ITF and WTA should have worked harder to let her know, the way several other sporting federations (including the Russian weightlifting federation) did. Had the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel decided, despite the earlier decision, that Sharapova bore “no significant fault”, it might have reduced to the suspension to 12 months and allowed her to return to action at the Australian Open in January. In deciding on 15 months, the CAS basically agreed with Sharapova’s assessment of her level of fault, even if it’s not buying a lot of the justification for it.
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