Sharapova fails drug test

[the AntiPusher]

she needs to work for her ranking if she has conscience..or if she is contrite.

Pova is about as contrite as Donald Trump..I doubt if contrite is in their vocabulary

 

[Fiero425]

She needs to work for her ranking if she has a conscience or if she is truly contrite.

Pova is about as contrite as Donald Trump. I doubt if contrite is in their vocabulary.

Oh please; she's been pampered and coddled all her freakin' life! Of course she feels entitled and to this day probably doesn't think she did anything wrong! If IMG didn't tell her her medication was on the list of banned substances, then it's on them! If she concealed her usage, then it's on her and she should take her medicine (no pun intended) and work to get her ranking back! She's not entitled to any protection; even if she's a lot better than most! Seles was stabbed back in '93 and most of the ladies didn't even want to give her a break in the rankings! Why should Pova with a self-inflicted wound? :nono :cover

 

[kskate2]

She needs to work for her ranking if she has a conscience or if she is truly contrite.

Pova is about as contrite as Donald Trump. I doubt if contrite is in their vocabulary.

Oh please; she's been pampered and coddled all her freakin' life! Of course she feels entitled and to this day probably doesn't think she did anything wrong! If IMG didn't tell her her medication was on the list of banned substances, then it's on them! If she concealed her usage, then it's on her and she should take her medicine (no pun intended) and work to get her ranking back! She's not entitled to any protection; even if she's a lot better than most! Seles was stabbed back in '93 and most of the ladies didn't even want to give her a break in the rankings! Why should Pova with a self-inflicted wound? :nono :cover

She doesn't. She's holding true to the fact that it's not her fault that she didn't know the drug had been added to the banned list.

 

[10isfan]

Pova is publishing a book later this year. I'm sure her marketing team is working overtime trying to salvage her image by spinning to story to make her look a victim. I don't see how anyone can do anything about her wild cards. Tournaments are motivated by money. She does sell more tickets than most other players. I actually think she will sell even more tickets now because there are people supporting her more strongly because they are ignorant of all the details of her infraction as well as all the people coming to cheer for her to lose because she is a cheater.

 

[Fiero425]

Pova is publishing a book later this year. I'm sure her marketing team is working overtime trying to salvage her image by spinning to story to make her look a victim. I don't see how anyone can do anything about her wild cards. Tournaments are motivated by money. She does sell more tickets than most other players. I actually think she will sell even more tickets now because there are people supporting her more strongly because they are ignorant of all the details of her infraction as well as all the people coming to cheer for her to lose because she is a cheater.

I won't criticize her asking and receiving WC's, but I pray she doesn't come off and act like she's some kind of victim! Her apologists will be around enough to fan those ridiculous flames! I just hope her return doesn't adversely affect the newbies who're coming of age! Veterans can sometimes sabotage them without even saying or doing anything; just being there is enough! :angel: :dodgy: :cover

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Pova is publishing a book later this year. I'm sure her marketing team is working overtime trying to salvage her image by spinning to story to make her look a victim. I don't see how anyone can do anything about her wild cards. Tournaments are motivated by money. She does sell more tickets than most other players. I actually think she will sell even more tickets now because there are people supporting her more strongly because they are ignorant of all the details of her infraction as well as all the people coming to cheer for her to lose because she is a cheater.

There is nothing that can be done about tournaments giving wildcards to her as it is at the discretion of the tournaments. However, what Stuttgart is doing should be prevented by WTA
as Maria is still banned on the first two days of the tournament. But, WTA let it go as they love
Maria.

 

[tossip]

I dont think pova sells arenas like Serena or Roger...she is overhyped by the tennis media for no reason..

 

[the AntiPusher]

I dont think pova sells arenas like Serena or Roger...she is overhyped by the tennis media for no reason..

This is true.. Again here are the top draws at most tournaments..

1.the Williams Sisters
2. Federer/Nadal (Federer draws the most fans on the practice courts)
3. Everyone else.

 

[delPoFearhand]

The WTA, imo, applied the rules set down by the ITF TADP correctly. Those rules just have a gaping loophole in them:

http://www.itftennis.com/antidoping/rules/tadp-overview.aspx

10.11 Status During Ineligibility:
10.11.1 Prohibition Against Participation During Ineligibility:
(a) No Participant who has been declared Ineligible may, during the period of Ineligibility, play, coach or otherwise participate in any capacity in (or, if the Person is a Player Support Personnel, assist any Player playing, coaching or otherwise participating in any capacity in):
(i) any Covered Event;
(ii) any other Event or Competition or activity (other than authorised anti-doping education or rehabilitation programmes) authorised, organised or sanctioned by the ITF, the ATP, the WTA, any National Association or member of a National Association, or any Signatory, Signatory's member organisation, or club or member organisation of that Signatory's member organisation;
(iii) any Event or Competition authorised or organised by any professional league or any international or national-level Event or Competition organisation; or
(iv) any elite or national-level sporting activity funded by a governmental agency.

and

10.11.2 Without prejudice to the generality of Article 10.11.1, a Participant shall not, during any period of Ineligibility, be given accreditation for, or otherwise granted access to, any Covered Event or any other Event or Competition or activity authorised, organised or sanctioned by the ITF, the ATP, the WTA, any National Association or member of a National Association, and any such accreditation previously issued shall be withdrawn.

The WTA lawyers decided (and I think I would agree in terms of legal analysis) that just being in the draw is not "participating" in the event. For me "participating" start once one actually steps out on the court to play or does a promotional appearance (such as being at the draw ceremony).

The annoyance for Maria, though, is 10.11.2 specifically restricts them from granting her a credential or access to the tournament, causing the weird situation where she can't pick up her badge until the morning she plays (which is her first day being eligible again). Otherwise, I think you could make a viable argument that she could even be on site & practice there without "participating" in the tournament, although the latter would depend on how/if the tournament publicized/promoted her practice session- if they turned it into an attraction/encouraged people to go there, I would argue that would be her "participating" in the event.

The other interesting thing from this digging is the 10.11.1 (a) (iii) prohibition from "any Event or Competition authorised or organised by any professional league or any international or national-level Event or Competition organisation". If I recall she did a World Team Tennis hit n giggle last year. I think you could feasibly argue this was an "Event organised by a professional league", and therefore she violated the terms of her ineligibility. It's essentially a moot point though, no one in the ITF is going to try to take her on again after all of the bad publicity they got last time around.

 

[Fiero425]

Cry me a river! She's being managed by a reputable firm; either she didn't tell them what drugs she was on or they didn't tell her! I'm betting she ignored the ban and figured "I've been on this heart medication for over 10 years! I'll be ok!" No she wasn't and she needs to take her punishment without kvetchin'! What was the rush? She didn't need to come back on the very last day of suspension! Screw her! - http://fiero4251.blogspot.com/2016/08/fan-page-novak-nole-djokovic.html -

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The WTA, imo, applied the rules set down by the ITF TADP correctly. Those rules just have a gaping loophole in them:

http://www.itftennis.com/antidoping/rules/tadp-overview.aspx

10.11 Status During Ineligibility:
10.11.1 Prohibition Against Participation During Ineligibility:
(a) No Participant who has been declared Ineligible may, during the period of Ineligibility, play, coach or otherwise participate in any capacity in (or, if the Person is a Player Support Personnel, assist any Player playing, coaching or otherwise participating in any capacity in):
(i) any Covered Event;
(ii) any other Event or Competition or activity (other than authorised anti-doping education or rehabilitation programmes) authorised, organised or sanctioned by the ITF, the ATP, the WTA, any National Association or member of a National Association, or any Signatory, Signatory's member organisation, or club or member organisation of that Signatory's member organisation;
(iii) any Event or Competition authorised or organised by any professional league or any international or national-level Event or Competition organisation; or
(iv) any elite or national-level sporting activity funded by a governmental agency.

and

10.11.2 Without prejudice to the generality of Article 10.11.1, a Participant shall not, during any period of Ineligibility, be given accreditation for, or otherwise granted access to, any Covered Event or any other Event or Competition or activity authorised, organised or sanctioned by the ITF, the ATP, the WTA, any National Association or member of a National Association, and any such accreditation previously issued shall be withdrawn.

The WTA lawyers decided (and I think I would agree in terms of legal analysis) that just being in the draw is not "participating" in the event. For me "participating" start once one actually steps out on the court to play or does a promotional appearance (such as being at the draw ceremony).

The annoyance for Maria, though, is 10.11.2 specifically restricts them from granting her a credential or access to the tournament, causing the weird situation where she can't pick up her badge until the morning she plays (which is her first day being eligible again). Otherwise, I think you could make a viable argument that she could even be on site & practice there without "participating" in the tournament, although the latter would depend on how/if the tournament publicized/promoted her practice session- if they turned it into an attraction/encouraged people to go there, I would argue that would be her "participating" in the event.

The other interesting thing from this digging is the 10.11.1 (a) (iii) prohibition from "any Event or Competition authorised or organised by any professional league or any international or national-level Event or Competition organisation". If I recall she did a World Team Tennis hit n giggle last year. I think you could feasibly argue this was an "Event organised by a professional league", and therefore she violated the terms of her ineligibility. It's essentially a moot point though, no one in the ITF is going to try to take her on again after all of the bad publicity they got last time around.

You are missing the key point. The first round matches are typically played on the first two days of the tournament, i.e., Monday and Tuesday. They are letting Maria play her first round match on Wednesday as she is banned from playing until Tuesday. If this is not bending over backwards to accommodate her, then what do you call it?

 

[delPoFearhand]

That's the tournament's call though. The WTA can't tell them which days to schedule which matches.

The situation the WTA is presented with is: if she does not play until Wednesday, do the rules allow it. And the answer is yes. If the tournament didn't/couldn't/wouldn't make that guarantee, then their answer would be different.

My point being: the tournament is the one doing the bending over, probably because Porsche is their title sponsor and Maria is one of their "brand ambassadors". The WTA is just interpreting a bad rule set (that isn't theirs) applied to a good strategy by a tournament & brand representatives. Blame the ITF for the rules, or the tournament for the leniency, but as I see it the WTA is basically caught in the middle here.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

WTA is no saint nor is it particularly eager with sanctioning Maria or enforcing it strictly. As everybody know, WTA chief sent out "talking points" to other WTA players telling them they are not supposed to criticize Maria if the press folks ask questions about the incident. It severely backfired as even that Memo got released to the press by some irritated player.

 

[kskate2]

That's the tournament's call though. The WTA can't tell them which days to schedule which matches.

The situation the WTA is presented with is: if she does not play until Wednesday, do the rules allow it. And the answer is yes. If the tournament didn't/couldn't/wouldn't make that guarantee, then their answer would be different.

My point being: the tournament is the one doing the bending over, probably because Porsche is their title sponsor and Maria is one of their "brand ambassadors". The WTA is just interpreting a bad rule set (that isn't theirs) applied to a good strategy by a tournament & brand representatives. Blame the ITF for the rules, or the tournament for the leniency, but as I see it the WTA is basically caught in the middle here.

I've held true to the fact that this is the tournament's doing. They know exactly how to push the envelope and they're doing it. That's why if I was a top player (like Kerber), I wouldn't play there because it's a slap in the face to the current top players who worked really hard to acquire the ranking and to be healthy enough to play there.

 

[delPoFearhand]

Fair enough. For the record, I agree with you from a common sense standpoint that she should not be allowed to play. It's one of those letter vs spirit of the law things.

And not surprisingly, the WTA is also to some degree capitulating to sponsors' interest in Maria. That memo was a terrible misstep by them, I agree.

 

[tossip]

the players should band together and boycott the event in protest of this travesty...

 

[atttomole]

I dont think pova sells arenas like Serena or Roger...she is overhyped by the tennis media for no reason..

Very true. The media never stops touting her, even though many tennis lovers are sick of it.

 

[Kieran]

It's vulgar that Maria has flip-flopped on her original admission of guilt, and is claiming special victim status for herself, but is also saying that the ITF could have done more to hunt her down and tell her personally that a drug she never even listed on her supplement intake sheet was illegal. So now she's shifted the blame, she expects everybody to fall into line and bow down before her... :cover

 

[kskate2]

It's vulgar that Maria has flip-flopped on her original admission of guilt, and is claiming special victim status for herself, but is also saying that the ITF could have done more to hunt her down and tell her personally that a drug she never even listed on her supplement intake sheet was illegal. So now she's shifted the blame, she expects everybody to fall into line and bow down before her... :cover

She really needs to stop it. Just take your medicine and swallow. Make an ugly face all you want but shut your trap. It really shows her lack of self-esteem that she's concerned with what other players say. She never cared before what people thought. So all of a sudden, 15 months off the tour and her skin isn't thick anymore? Not buying it. :nono

I do think she is drumming up a built-in excuse in case this comeback goes sideways. If she finds herself on the losing end of matches to nextgen or players she used to own, she can say all this off-court drama was a distraction and she couldn't play her best tennis.

 

[Kieran]

It's vulgar that Maria has flip-flopped on her original admission of guilt, and is claiming special victim status for herself, but is also saying that the ITF could have done more to hunt her down and tell her personally that a drug she never even listed on her supplement intake sheet was illegal. So now she's shifted the blame, she expects everybody to fall into line and bow down before her... :cover

She really needs to stop it. Just take your medicine and swallow. Make an ugly face all you want but shut your trap. It really shows her lack of self-esteem that she's concerned with what other players say. She never cared before what people thought. So all of a sudden, 15 months off the tour and her skin isn't thick anymore? Not buying it. :nono

I do think she is drumming up a built-in excuse in case this comeback goes sideways. If she finds herself on the losing end of matches to nextgen or players she used to own, she can say all this off-court drama was a distraction and she couldn't play her best tennis.

Yeah, basically this. And while I agree with your suggestion that she needs to "takes her medicine and swallow", I would urge her first to check the label on the side of the bottle and make sure the medicine isn't banned! :laydownlaughing