The Sharapova drug announcement

A big announcement on Monday night from Sharapova was not, as some thought, about her retirement but about the shock news that she had failed a drug test at this year's Australian Open.

It may be just to announce something else like taking time-out due to injury or a new coach or such-like. Are there any sources quoted as saying she is close to retiring?

CC. Only newspaper reports and no one is certain.

She has had conferences of same style before and launched her Sugrapova brand and her clothes brand.

This time she is looking a little pregnant, maybe Dimi did manage to finally do some work on her.

Nice try jahu, we all know it was you.

break, attack is best defense, eh?

It was you, hope she got broken before the "fifth" gear of yours

Nah only you are jahuge enough to break that quickly.

She failed a drug test!!

Grave attack on the hotel carpet.

Based on what I'm reading, this is a nothing incident. Certainly I think there is far more genuine perforce enhancement stuff going on.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium

Well she needn't worry. I am sure a Cillic sized ban awaits.

legendkillarV2 wrote:Well she needn't worry. I am sure a Cillic sized ban awaits.

Maybe. It would be a nice easy win for the sport to look like it's serious, while all sorts of genuinely artificial performance enhancement goes on. I mean, what exactly does this stuff even do? I can't see anything on wiki but I guess there must be a reason. Maybe it's some kind if masking agent.

bogbrush wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:Well she needn't worry. I am sure a Cillic sized ban awaits.

Maybe. It would be a nice easy win for the sport to look like it's serious, while all sorts of genuinely artificial performance enhancement goes on. I mean, what exactly does this stuff even do? I can't see anything on wiki but I guess there must be a reason. Maybe it's some kind if masking agent.

It's the quietest I have ever heard her!

Increases endurance performance of athletes, improved rehab etc. Media will go to town, but she's been on this stuff for years. For such a big star, surprised herself or her team are not kept up-to-date with the updated banned substance list. Probably be banned, but this really isn't that big a story, compared to what was rumoured prior to the announcement. She barely plays tournaments now, due to injury, so it's not like tennis will miss her that much.

Amazed that she doesn't have someone literally employed to check this type of thing.

Born Slippy wrote:Amazed that she doesn't have someone literally employed to check this type of thing.

Agreed. Especially when the substance was added to the banned list 2 weeks prior to the AO. One would assume there would be some awareness.

Very astute press conference .... Maria knows how to PR.

However, the drug is used for performance enhancement, is available is Eastern Europe but not the US where Sharapova lives and she was rather vague about why she needed to be taking it anyway (naming 3 different conditions). So not sure I'm buying her story.

That said, if the drug was used in Russian state sponsored doping (as Sharapova is not the only Russian athlete caught with this), wouldn't the Russian federations be going all out to tell their athletes that it was banned from 2016, rather than trusting that they read all their WADA updates?

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:Amazed that she doesn't have someone literally employed to check this type of thing.

Agreed. Especially when the substance was added to the banned list 2 weeks prior to the AO. One would assume there would be some awareness.

It was added in January 1, but swimmers have been warned long before that....

https://swimswam.com/blood-flow-drug-meldonium-added-to-wadas-banned-substances-list/

Sheer carelessness...track athletes, swimmers and cyclists take WADA lists a lot more seriously than tennis players (Sharapova) and cricketers (Andre Russell) do, even though those two sports people earn much more money than most track and field athletes, swimmers and cyclists.

Well, if you think WADA is so unimportant that you pay little attention to their rules and regulations, you will feel it in your pockets...maybe then they'll learn.

This drug was only banned in tennis on January 1 this year. She'd been taking it for 10 years. If it's performance-enhancing, how come it took so long to ban it?

It supposedly used to treat angina and heart attacks... maybe they were worried theyd put people in danger until now

She says this

"But on 1 January the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I had not known."

She added: "I received an email on 22 December from Wada about the changes happening to the banned list and you can see prohibited items, and I didn't click on that link."

Sounds utterly shambolic. Tennis is responsible for her earning mega bucks. Forward it to your Doctor and ask if anything you are taking is on the list. She is right to accept responsibility on that version of events. Next will be to see if there are credible suggestions that there is more to his than first appears. Such a degree of casualness in one so driven and (apparently) controlling of her life makes me wonder. I will be interested to see what other players say if asked about it. Shame that Federer is not at Indian Wells; he is often pretty blunt.

Yeah shes goofed up big time. If youre taking anything surely you would look every time it changes. ESPECIALLY if its emailed to you.
She could be banned for a couple of years apparently...

Well it is a bit harsh at least if her statements are true about it being a recently banned substance. What is this supposed to have done for her except dealing with medical conditions that any of us would get prescriptions for? Again this Meldonium, thing is it a cover for other drugs, or is it in conjunction with sickness and diabetes prevention she claims. She says it was a kind of immune booster type drug.

In away this good because it disproves the idea that the ITF would cover for a star. At least we know that the biggest draw in women's tennis will be called on it.

The report demonstrated that the combined treatment of meldonium and lisinopril may improve the quality of life, exercise capacity and mechanisms of peripheral circulation of patients with chronic heart failure.[7] A later report in 2008 further demonstrated the efficacy of combined meldonium-lisinopril treatment by showing improved carotid baroreceptor reflex in patients with chronic heart failure.[8] In February 2010, the clinical trial testing the efficacy and safety of meldonium treatment in combination with standard exercise tolerance therapy on angina patients was successfully completed.[9] The studies revealed that meldonium treatment significantly improves the exercise tolerance of stable angina patients

This is from wiki, but there is a footnote to a real clinical study so looks reliable. So it is to increase athletic and cardiovascular fitness. So it is more sinister than she first makes it. Not legal by FDA, just banned by WADA. The substance she said was prescribed because she kept getting sick and is diabetes prone, but this drug is given to heart patients to allow them to deal with more athletic strain. So it is performance enhancing and the story she is giving as the cover is not jiving. Why would a young person take medicine given to people with angina and heart issues if not to gain an edge?

temporary21 wrote:It supposedly used to treat angina and heart attacks... maybe they were worried theyd put people in danger until now

That doesn't make sense. WADA only ban substances for professional athletes, not general use. And if a pro athlete needs this specific substance for a medical condition, they can apply for an exemption.

barrystar wrote:She says this

"But on 1 January the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I had not known."

She added: "I received an email on 22 December from Wada about the changes happening to the banned list and you can see prohibited items, and I didn't click on that link."

Sounds utterly shambolic. Tennis is responsible for her earning mega bucks. Forward it to your Doctor and ask if anything you are taking is on the list.  She is right to accept responsibility on that version of events. Next will be to see if there are credible suggestions that there is more to his than first appears.  Such a degree of casualness in one so driven and (apparently) controlling of her life makes me wonder.  I will be interested to see what other players say if asked about it. Shame that Federer is not at Indian Wells; he is often pretty blunt.

Can't see what could arise to suggest it's more than first appears (assuming it's right that the substance was banned on 1 Jan). Foolish but not worthy of a significant ban. Far more understandable than Cilic I suggest.

It will be seen how this tarnishes her endorsement power? It absolutely destroyed Armstrong and most others.

Ok this looks good for Maria, tennis channel says she had declared her use on WADA and ITF forms for many years. She had declared her use before the ban, and simply didn't know that the new rules would make it illegal.

Her PR team are all over this to make it doesn't harm her endorsement power (which of course will last long beyond her playing career). And of course, the WTA are right there with them to paint her as a someone with integrity who has made a simple mistake.

To borrow as catchphrase - pffftt!

tbf we probably wont see her gone, shes barely able to get her body to play nowadays, and when she does she either goes out to a million double faults, or fights her way to Serena, which is sometimes hard to watch...

This is what I think, she was using the medication for performance enhancement, her medical need story kind of breaks apart because this stuff is not used to prevent diabetes or as an immune booster it is used to improve athletic and cardiovascular fitness in heart patient. But she was using this substance when it was legal. She declared that she did use the medicine on forms, so she didn't try to hide it. When they changed it she probably wasn't aware as she said.

The part of her story that doesn't jive is the idea she didn't take it to help her performance but to prevent diabetes and other sicknesses. Because what this drug is used for is to increase the cardiovascular performance of heart patients, not for the things she is claiming. That is the part that is icky for her, that she was doping legally for ten years and had declared it openly. She was I think using it for an edge that is the part that hurts her image in my mind worse than just the technical violation she had on one test.

Since Cilic was force fed by her mom with Glucose, I guess Sharapova got force fed Sugarpova candies a little too much.

Sugar is no good, fact!!

What a dumb girl, worth a Billion and look what she does, brainless.

http://www.cleancompetition.org/Blog/Post/7/WADA-ADDS-PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING-DRUG-TO-BANNED-LIST-AFTER-PCC-FUNDED-STUDY

Some background to why this drug was added to the banned list. 2% of athletes' samples contained the substance - I read elsewhere that 17% of Russian athlete samples contained it. Of course, it is mainly a Russian/former USSR drug and not licensed in some countries, so you'd expect it to be skewed. So I am very sceptical that Sharapova used it for 10 years for medical reasons, but of course , even if she used it for performance enhancement reasons until the end of 2015 it was allowed. But how did she & her team miss that it would have to stop?!

So all her wins for last 10 years are drug assisted?

Awaiting a similar conference in Belgrade or Monaco, one for medicines, one for tax evasion, any day now

socal1976 wrote:Ok this looks good for Maria, tennis channel says she had declared her use on WADA and ITF forms for many years. She had declared her use before the ban, and simply didn't know that the new rules would make it illegal.

Source for this please as I can't find it?

So she says today that she took it for 10 years for a condition she never said a word, and that is legal only in Russia and Latvia where it's made, banned in US where she lives.

And she did not click the WADA link on email on updated list!!

I guess even Dimi saw it that the blondie ain't that smart.

Henman Bill wrote:

socal1976 wrote:Ok this looks good for Maria, tennis channel says she had declared her use on WADA and ITF forms for many years. She had declared her use before the ban, and simply didn't know that the new rules would make it illegal.

Source for this please as I can't find it?

I don't have a source, except the interview coverage on Tennis channel after the speech. They said that a group of reporters spoke with Maria and her lawyer after the press conference. Davenport said that they had declared the use of this substance for years before had quote declared it to WADA (prior to it becoming banned in January) at least she was repeating the statement of Maria's lawyer. Knowing lawyers if they make a specific factual assertion like that they have something to base it on it on, and something on paper which has been documented prior to the date the substance was made illegal. Lawyers may lie or come up with BS, but usually if they are they try to be vague and noncommittal to kind of blow smoke. They won't be as specific to say that Maria declared this to the ITF on her declaration of medications used if they want to lie. When they make a statement that can be verified yes or no they won't tout it like that unless they got that documentation. That's how they operate. So the source is tennis channel their broadcast around 30 minutes or an hour after the press conference and its Davenport paraphrasing what Maria's lawyer told her.

Just tune in. Wow!! Who next?

Navratilova calling it an honest mistake.

At the end of the day she has been using a PED for decades. WaDa knows it enhance performance hence they add it to the banned list. Ask yourself why so many other athletes have been busted for this drugs

Also the drugs aid in cardiovascular efficency and help recovery. I don't buy this stuff about medication for diabetes.

They knew it's effects and utilised a legal loophole and of that.

Plus russia we know have a very sophisticated doping programme

Serena tested positive for melanin and she is crucified. Imagine if she was also tested positive for a PED

Whatever reason Sharapova had for taking meldonium prior to January 2016 she was entitled to do so. It wasn't a banned drug. She was stupid to have not been aware that from this date she was no longer allowed to do so.

WADA had been investigating it's use through 2015 and decided that there was enough evidence to show that it could be performance enhancing hence the new ban. Similar to the way they are looking at the use of the CVAC now. Although I don't think that prior to being banned the use of meldonium was judged by WADA to be not in the spirit of the sport. If in the future they decide to ban it's use then as long as athletes stop using it from the date of the ban what they did in the past can not be made illegal in retrospect.

No doubt there are many itching to get a big name scapegoat but Sharapova should be judged as foolish rather than a "cheat" on the evidence she has given. She was caught taking something that she had legally been taking for 10 years with no attempt to cover it up.

legendkillarV2 wrote:Navratilova calling it an honest mistake.

That's what it looks like.

djkbrown2001 wrote:At the end of the day she has been using a PED  for decades. WaDa knows it enhance performance  hence they add it to the banned list.  Ask yourself  why so many other athletes  have been busted for this drugs

Also the drugs aid in cardiovascular  efficency and help recovery. I don't buy this stuff about medication for diabetes.

They knew it's effects and utilised a legal loophole and of that.

Plus russia we know have a very sophisticated  doping programme

I so agree .. it is total bs as you say she found the loophole and used it. She doesn't say she has diabetes only that she has a family history..first and foremost the best treatment for keeping diabetes at bay is diet and exercise... what a joke.!! My husband is on metfomina because he has diabetes and a rare blood disorder and high blood pressure..  it is an extreme medication for an elite athlete

I'm also a little surprised that WADA don't make more of a song and dance about changing the status of a drug.

Haddie-nuff wrote:

djkbrown2001 wrote:At the end of the day she has been using a PED  for decades. WaDa knows it enhance performance  hence they add it to the banned list.  Ask yourself  why so many other athletes  have been busted for this drugs

Also the drugs aid in cardiovascular  efficency and help recovery. I don't buy this stuff about medication for diabetes.

They knew it's effects and utilised a legal loophole and of that.

Plus russia we know have a very sophisticated  doping programme

I so agree .. it is total bs as you say she found the loophole and used it. She doesn't say she has diabetes only that she has a family history..first and foremost the best treatment for keeping diabetes at bay is diet and exercise... what a joke.!! My husband is on metfomina because he has diabetes and a rare blood disorder and high blood pressure..  it is an extreme medication for an elite athlete

But it doesn't matter why she was using prior to January 2016. It wasn't banned.

Looks like she's going to be dragged over the coals...

https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/707036532146900992

hawkeye wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:

djkbrown2001 wrote:At the end of the day she has been using a PED  for decades. WaDa knows it enhance performance  hence they add it to the banned list.  Ask yourself  why so many other athletes  have been busted for this drugs

Also the drugs aid in cardiovascular  efficency and help recovery. I don't buy this stuff about medication for diabetes.

They knew it's effects and utilised a legal loophole and of that.

Plus russia we know have a very sophisticated  doping programme

I so agree .. it is total bs as you say she found the loophole and used it. She doesn't say she has diabetes only that she has a family history..first and foremost the best treatment for keeping diabetes at bay is diet and exercise... what a joke.!! My husband is on metfomina because he has diabetes and a rare blood disorder and high blood pressure..  it is an extreme medication for an elite athlete

But it doesn't matter why she was using prior to January 2016. It wasn't banned.

OMG HE now I sympathise with socal, you do love to cherry pick don't you
It matters not if it wasn't banned then.. if we now know she was using it to enhance performance.. really
A healthy athlete would not use such an extreme drug to prevent diabetes Im not sure that the use of that particular drug would have been recommended for that use.
She has never before admitted to having such a problem...

Also she lives in america why go to Russia to get that drugs to treat that alleged problem? Why not take a drugs available in america ? Something fishy _they new the PED effects hence the use of that particular drugs . Off all the drugs they could have used they used this one of all the places they could get the drugs they go to Russia . It doesn't add up.

As she's almost retired anyway I'd think her main aim is to mitigate the personal damage. If she can get it perceived that she's taking the ban as a technicality, and holding her hands up for being "foolish", she comes out of it looking a bit silly but no cheat. The brand survives bruised but undamaged, her career might well end but it was heading that way fast anyway.

Hell, for tennis this even looks good; they get to ban a big name and look tough on drugs but the player isn't losing much. Look out for tennis to express a grudging sympathy for her and a reluctant head shake that they have to do what's right, thus protecting her brand and ensuring there's no angry recriminations (and revelations) from her.