Sharapova fails drug test

[GameSetAndMath]

Maria could be banned from All England Club . The appropriate body is expected to discuss this after the Wimbledon tourney is over.

 

[10isfan]

A ban from the All England Club will be a negative in her being inducted into the HOF, in my opinion.

She is getting what she deserves. I do believe if she were well liked in the locker room, the ordeal would not sting as painfully. Federer basically says she is stupid, but that is no excuse. Judy Murray agrees. If WTA players are instructed to stay quiet, I hope the men will condemn her.

 

[Tennis Fan]

Maria Sharapova: The rise and fall of the world's richest sportswoman, from champion to cheat

The evidence against Maria Sharapova is damning, but tennis has arguably suffered as much reputational damage as a Russian player who is facing an ignominious end to her golden career, writes Desmond Kane.

Full Article: http://www.eurosport.com/tennis/mar...from-champion-to-cheat_sto5640100/story.shtml

Scathing, but accurate article. No athlete needs to be consistently warned about taking a banned substance. Maria had to know that she was wrong or she wouldn't have concealed her use of the drug. Not once did she ever list it on the medical advice form. Personally, I think she should be stripped of the titles that she "earned" under its use.

Federer came out today and said essentially the same thing. Maria should be stripped and not pardoned by the powers to be. This news impugns more than Maria, it impugns the sport of tennis.

Federer Zero Tolerance for Sharapova and All

By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, June 9, 2016

http://www.tennisnow.com/News/2016/June/Federer-Zero-Tolerance-For-Sharapova-and-All.aspx

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It is not clear what the AELTCC will decide. There are many admirers of Meldopova there. It is even probable that admirers are in majority there. My guess is in the meeting after Wimbledon, they will decide not to decide anything until the final verdict from CAS comes.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I am surprised by the Jan 26 and March 12 discrepancy. This must be the one point which the tribunal conceded because the members couldn't tolerate her tears and wailing.

In practical terms, what does the Jan 26 date give her other than small tourneys?

It is not a big deal, if the two year ban is upheld.

However, if CAS reduces it even by six months, the predating becomes significant.

With the predating, her ban would end on Jun 25, 2017. So, that would make her eligible for Wimbledon 2017 and later tourneys.

On the other hand, if the predating was not there, her ban would end on Sep 12, 2017 and by that time USO 17 would have already ended. That would mean even with six month reduction in ban, she will not be able to play a single GS in 2017. Further without playing in a single GS and not playing any tourney till Sep 10th, there is no way she can qualify for WTF in 2017.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Sponsor Status:

Support: Head, Nike, Evian

Dump: Tag Heuer, Avon

On the fence: Porsche, Supergoo

Also, it should be noted that even those who support her will generally be paying her about half of what they used to pay before as she is now a tainted player. Usually, these things are built into the initial contract under ethics/image clause.

Also, during these two years of ban, she may get paid just a token amount from even the supporters. Once again typically a minimum number of matches played per year is stipulated in the contract. With the ban obviously, she cannot meet that number. So, sponsors will be able to cut payment even further down.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

WADA says:

“We have 21 days to decide whether or not we want to appeal to Cas, either after we have received the full case decision or after any other party has appealed, the later of those two scenarios,” the Wada spokesman Ben Nichols said. “We can appeal the decision given by the organisation, in this case the ITF, or we can cross-appeal if an athlete makes an appeal and we don’t agree with that line of thinking.”

Also, it appears that the appeal will not be heard in June or July. The earliest it will be heard is in August.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I don't think the All England Club is serious. I think they threw that out there as a lead headline heading into Wimbledon to add another talking point to this matter.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I mean what is she going to say that could possibly reduce her sentence. I mean all of what she presented is pretty ridiculous. I don't think there is anything she can present at this point that anyone would believe. Even the players who read the verdict are like what the fcuk, so if she gets a reduction there will definitely be an outcry from players I think.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

GSM, thanks for keeping the rest of us in the loop with regard to all the details and news. Do you know what happens when she appeals? She gets to choose one member of the tribunal. Whether the two year ban is upheld or reduced, do all three members have to agree? I can't imagine someone she designed will go along with anything less than a reduction. This format seems flawed. Any insights?

The panel that decides will be made up of three judges, one picked by Maria, one picked by ITF and one picked by CAS itself. I don't know as a matter of fact, whether unanimous agreement is needed. However, I doubt it will be needed.

When it is said Maria picks a judge, it does not mean that she can pick an arbitrary person. They would give a list of qualified and available people and Maria can choose one from that list. Same applied to other parties.

One interesting thing is the provision that "In making its decision CAS need not give deference to the discretion exercised by the body whose decision is being appealed". In other words, if they choose CAS can actually conduct the hearing as a brand new hearing and totally ignore everything from the old hearing by ITF tribunal (but, they would rarely do so).

 

[golds girl]

Sponsor Status:

Support: Head, Nike, Evian

Dump: Tag Heuer, Avon

On the fence: Porsche, Supergoo

Also, it should be noted that even those who support her will generally be paying her about half of what they used to pay before as she is now a tainted player. Usually, these things are built into the initial contract under ethics/image clause.

Also, during these two years of ban, she may get paid just a token amount from even the supporters. Once again typically a minimum number of matches played per year is stipulated in the contract. With the ban obviously, she cannot meet that number. So, sponsors will be able to cut payment even further down.

Refresh my memory, didn't Nike initially dump Tiger because of infidelity and then re-sign him? Regardless, he lost more sponsorships initially than this person who has been cheating the game for YEARS.:huh:

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Sponsor Status:

Support: Head, Nike, Evian

Dump: Tag Heuer, Avon

On the fence: Porsche, Supergoo

Also, it should be noted that even those who support her will generally be paying her about half of what they used to pay before as she is now a tainted player. Usually, these things are built into the initial contract under ethics/image clause.

Also, during these two years of ban, she may get paid just a token amount from even the supporters. Once again typically a minimum number of matches played per year is stipulated in the contract. With the ban obviously, she cannot meet that number. So, sponsors will be able to cut payment even further down.

Refresh my memory, didn't Nike initially dump Tiger because of infidelity and then re-sign him? Regardless, he lost more sponsorships initially than this person who has been cheating the game for YEARS.:huh:

I don't quite remember whether they dumped him and then resigned him or just continued him.
I think the later. However, I do know that Nike had a "morality clause" built into the contract as a result of which Nike was able to get the same thing out of Tiger, but pay him just half the amount they used to give him before the trials and tribulations of Tiger became public.

 

[colleen66]

Thanks to Medlonium, finally Serena tops Dominatrix and becomes the highest paid female athlete.

Interestingly out of the top 10 highest paid female athletes, 8 are from tennis. Only exceptions are Danica and Ronda.

Serena and Venus have been earning millions since they were youngsters,Venus was a millionaire at 10yrs...so money has always been part of their lives..15yrs Serena was already a millionaire...so its 20yrs of banking millions,,apparently pova has a large group of people she is paying...like more than 30 people.

And the not-so-funny joke is with all these people on her payroll, no one thought to inform her that Meldonium was being added to the banned list. :cover smh

According to the report, all those people on the payroll had no knowledge of the Meldonium use except her father and her agent. That strikes me as being very deceptive along with the other questionable choices she has made concerning this matter.

 

[colleen66]

Max should have been more vigilant. He and her dad were the only ones who knew, and they let her down. I can imagine the tension between Pova and her dad over this. I wonder what Pova will do with Max. I am also curious what the CEO of Head will do. He refused to drop her, which was perplexing.

The WTA would be wise to quickly move on from this. Focus on Serena who is adding to her legacy and Mugu who is now a slam winner and has marketing potential.

Why the three years when she didn't report on the drug testing sheet? Was she reporting before and after those years?

Maria is an adult she knows right from wrong. Don't blame her dad or her manager.

IMO, not only did they know, but I believe that they were in collusion with her and the deceptive practices.

 

[colleen66]

Maria banned for two years by the tribunal that heard her case. I think it is a fair decision. :clap

If you actually read the PDF she should have gotten 4 yrs. That document is damning as hell.

I read it completely. But, unlike you, I agree with their decision of 2 years. The thing is even though Maria was doing the unethical thing all along of taking a drug that she did not really need for any medical reasons (she took it primarily for enhancing performance), she did not realize that it was in actual violation of the WADA code (after all it was not in violation of WADA code till end of 2015). In that sense, she committed an unintentional violation. Hence, she was not given four years.

However, it is her duty and no one else's duty to realize that she was in fact committing a violation and is keeping up with the change in list of prohibited substances. So, she got the maximum possible ban that could be given for an unintentional violation. I think the judgement is fair; neither harsh nor lenient.

Leaving aside the legal side, on the morality side it is very clear that she was taking the drug with full knowledge that it is performance enhancing.

I agree an unintentional violation, but deception with intent and lying by omission. Her intent to gain a physical advantage in matches was intentional. Although the drug she used was at one point not on the banned list, her deception was clear. This is what bothers me the most as a fan of tennis. When all my baseball "heroes " tested positive for steroids and other drugs, I stopped following the sport.

 

[isabelle]

How many years would you have given her?

don't know it's hard to say, I haven't seen the file with all testimonies, evidences etc...

 

[Kieran]

Her defence is laughable. Her manager usually sits beside a swimming pool in Miami and goes through the list? But he was going through a spot of difficulty and didn't use his beach wear? Gimme a well-earned break. :lolz:

Then she moaned that this could cost her millions, to which the sane response is: Great! :clap

They should hurl the book at her. She's shady as hell...

 

[special700]

Max should have been more vigilant. He and her dad were the only ones who knew, and they let her down. I can imagine the tension between Pova and her dad over this. I wonder what Pova will do with Max. I am also curious what the CEO of Head will do. He refused to drop her, which was perplexing.

The WTA would be wise to quickly move on from this. Focus on Serena who is adding to her legacy and Mugu who is now a slam winner and has marketing potential.

Why the three years when she didn't report on the drug testing sheet? Was she reporting before and after those years?

No they did not let her down they knew all along that she was doping and they were in agreement with it. Remember her father was also an athlete and no doubt during his active days he doped too. After he's Russian.

 

[special700]

Man they read her for filth in that report. I mean they were essentially like what moron would continue to use substances and not disclose them in the event that it could have an adverse effect with other substances. She should count herself lucky she didn't have a bad reaction. Interesting, she took it before her matches and before all of her matches in Australia.

Not only that but you do not know what the long term effects will be she gets older.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I read multiple projections of expected verdict in the appeal. Here it is in a nutshell.

One year ban is mandatory. It cannot be reduced below that as per the rules and established facts. There is no discretion there.

If Dominatrix can prove that it is no fault of hers, she will get just 1 year ban. On the other hand, if it is perceived she is to be blamed 100% for what happened, then she will get 2 years. The tribunal selected by the ITF came to the conclusion that she is to be blamed 100% and so gave her two year ban.

However, Sharapova has already admitted that some blame can be attributed to her. So, she will get at least three months ban in addition to mandatory 1 year. So, the verdict of the CAS is expected to be somewhere between 15 months and 24 months.