The 29-year-old five-time Grand Slam winner stunned the world in
March with the announcement that she failed a doping test at the Australian Open in January.
Meldonium,
formerly referred to as Mildronate, is a heart disease drug that was added to
the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances on January 1, 2016
The BBC reports
that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) panel could hand out the maximum
four-year-ban to the Russian superstar – but experts suggest a six to 12 month
punishment would be more appropriate.
Wada
admitted in April that there was a lack of scientific evidence about how long
meldonium lasted in the system and it suggested athletes who tested positive
for the substance before 1 March could avoid bans, provided they had stopped
taking it before 1 January.
However,
Sharapova said she had continued taking it past that date as she was unaware it
had been added to the banned list because she knew it by its previous name –
mildronate, and she had not seen the notification sent out by WADA to that
effect.
The performance enhancement capabilities of the drug remains a grey area as its Latvian makers insist taking it should not
be referred to as ‘doping’.
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