Sharapova fails drug test

[Federberg]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-four-to-six-weeks-not-10-years-a6918996.html

Th plot thickens. No pass for her!

 

[tossip]

remember that she was acing everybody at the AO16,preparing to beat Serena...po thang.Serena messed up that girl s head..

 

[Glenys]

Slightly off topic but does Teddytennisfan always try to turn posts into USA bashing?

Back to Maria

Still have the same viewpoint, had it not been on the monitored list before being banned, I may have held more sympathy for the "didn't know it did that" but come on really?

 

[Tennisman12345]

Why was the drug only banned this year?

I think the bad thing about this is she has been taken it for 10 years. It is not legal now but has been the last 10 years what exactly is the difference with the drug between this time last year and now it's the same drug? Or something has been newly added to make a form of cheating?

 

[Fiero425]

That would help to explain all those 3 set, 3+ hour wins against girls who weren't doping over the years! ;-( :ras:

 

[tossip]

That would help to explain all those 3 set, 3+ hour wins against girls who weren't doping over the years! ;-( :ras:

the match that comes to mind is the Halep match at RG,she took a potty break and came back refreshed .

 

[10isfan]

The difference between today and 12 months ago is not in the chemistry, but in the way the drug is being used. Drugs on the banned list started out as treatments for various ailments. When athletes' doctors discover that XYZ can enhance performance, they make it available to sports figures.

I assume Pova's "family doctor" is in Russia. If he/she were practicing medicine in the US, his/her license would be stripped. There aren't many physicians here who are dumb enough to risk the dire consequences.

 

[tossip]

Speculation may not be enough for some but I know damn well who out there is doping but I can't do anything about it.

well... tough titty.:lolz:

 

[tossip]

karma is the greatest equalizer...pova found fame through beating Serena and ironically lost her fame after losing to Serena...this is creepy stuff...#sharadopa

 

[Kirijax]

We need to be careful of accusing who is doping or taking drugs or whatever. There will always be things that could be suspicious when they are nothing. People who want to find something desperately will take anything to twist it to their theory. I think we need to be careful from here on what we say about this issue. It's a shame what has happened but I hope the rest of the athletes take it as a huge bazooka warning shot and stay clear of things that are not allowed and get a team that is competent enough to check those detailed, ever-changing drug policies.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Maria's Lawyer exposed.

Haggerty said "Maria at all times took the mildronate in accordance with the recommendations of her doctor." He repeatedly declined to go into specifics about Sharapova's treatment, claiming he had to adhere to the "strict confidentiality" of the International Tennis Federation's process.

An ITF spokesman told The Associated Press, however, that the organization places no restrictions on what players and their representatives can say publicly about an ongoing case.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Here is an interview by Si's John Wirthiem with Maria's Lawyer.

Apparently, Maria has admitted that she was taking that drug even after Jan 1st 2016. So, it is not the case that she took it when it was legal and due to the half life of the drug being of the order of two months, it showed up in the drug test. If that were the case, it could be thought of as a mitigating circumstance. Now, I think she deserves full two years ban (the max for unintentional first time violation).

 

[10isfan]

Interesting stats:

Of 4,316 Russian athletes drug-tested last year, 724, or 17%, had the then-legal meldonium in their system; among non-Russian athletes, only 182 of 8,230 of those tested, or 2.2%, had used it.

Pova has no case, but I am curious how she will be rescued because she is too rich to be punished.

Dimitrov looks like a genius now (if not the day he dumped this doper)

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I spent a lot of time going over the rules of TADP. In a nutshell, she will get somewhere between 3 months and 4 years ban.

Actually, the ban is 4 years. If Maria's lawyers can argue that it is "unintentional", which they can I suppose, it comes down to 2 years immediately. This is detailed in section 10.2.

Then the lawyers can argue that it is due to "No significant fault or Negligence" on Maria's part (there is another thing called No fault or Negligence which can completely eliminate the ban and I assume that no lawyer can argue that in this case). This can reduce the punishment even further, but not to less than half of what it was before. So, once they can argue this ban comes down to 1 year. This is detailed in section 10.4

Also, players are given discount if they immediately admit that they doped when ITF confronts them with evidence. This is one of the reasons why Dominatrix did an immediate mea culpa without trying to fight it out with a fake story of contamination. It is not that Maria did so due to greatness of her heart and her courage. This can reduce the ban further, but not below 1/4th of what it was before. So, this could actually bring it down to as little as three months. This is explained in section 10.6.

So, the absolute minimum is three months and maximum is 4 years. More likely it will be somewhere between six months and 2 years. My guess is it will be one year.

Even a six month ban will prevent Dominatrix from participating in RG, Wimby, Olympics and USO as it will start from March 12th and USO ends precisely on Sep. 11th (it is almost as if it was predecided that the final length of ban imposed will be six months).

 

[Moxie]

That's a good point, Glenys...she may have missed the memo, but someone on her team/her industry, and she is an industry, should have been head's up on that. I get that the whole thing smells fishy. And I won't be totally naive about it. But I do wonder about her getting ahead of this by ratting herself out. She has to have known it would lose her some/all endorsements. Someone suggested on the betting scandal thread on the ATP side (was that you, @britbox?) that Maria might have made a deal with ITF/WTA and gone ahead and retired, preserving her money train and avoiding embarrassment. This is the part where I wonder if maybe there's some truth in her story, as far as she's concerned. She's not stupid, and she's a smart businesswoman. Maybe what she hopes to gain is public sympathy and with that put pressure on the powers to keep her in the game, and thereby get a chance to restore her reputation, endorsements, etc. This is cynical, but we live in a time when people get rehabilitated beyond scandal, and rise again. She may be hoping for that.

 

[kskate2]

This thread is about the Sharapova doping issue. Any speculating posts about other players doping have been moved to a General doping thread where those things can be discussed.

 

[tossip]

no matter how much her spin doctors spin this,her legacy is tarnished forever.There will be lots of asterisks on her achievements from 06 to present day.
She was marketed as hardworking and fearless,now we know how she became fearless.I hope from now onwards she will not be mentioned next to Serena s name...if she is smart disappear for a while and then resurface next year at RG17
i am beginning to think Grigor knew what was up and ran away before he got linked to this ...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Another myth that Maria and her lawyer were propagating is that they knew that the drug she is taking is called "mildronate". The newly banned drug is called "meldonium". They did not know that mildronate is just another name for meldonium. That is a blatant lie.

See how easy it is to know your banned drugs from this BBC Video.

Incidentally, Sharapova's annual earnings from endorsements is greater than the annual budget of WADA. She could easily hire somebody at minimum wages to check this website daily. :devil

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The first step in the process is for ITF to decide on the punishment including the length of the ban and possible loss of points and money earned at AO. This will be done purely by ITF and not by WTA or WADA.

After that Maria and her lawyer can appeal seeking further reduction of it if they think it is too harsh.

Interestingly it is not just Maria who can appeal. WADA can also appeal the decision if WADA feels that the punishment given out is too lenient.

 

[Federberg]

That's a good point, Glenys...she may have missed the memo, but someone on her team/her industry, and she is an industry, should have been head's up on that. I get that the whole thing smells fishy. And I won't be totally naive about it. But I do wonder about her getting ahead of this by ratting herself out. She has to have known it would lose her some/all endorsements. Someone suggested on the betting scandal thread on the ATP side (was that you, @britbox?) that Maria might have made a deal with ITF/WTA and gone ahead and retired, preserving her money train and avoiding embarrassment. This is the part where I wonder if maybe there's some truth in her story, as far as she's concerned. She's not stupid, and she's a smart businesswoman. Maybe what she hopes to gain is public sympathy and with that put pressure on the powers to keep her in the game, and thereby get a chance to restore her reputation, endorsements, etc. This is cynical, but we live in a time when people get rehabilitated beyond scandal, and rise again. She may be hoping for that.

Read what the drug company is saying Moxie. You're not supposed to take this drug for a decade. This is PED plain and simple