MARIA SHARAPOVA’S TENNIS future is set to be decided today when an anti-doping panel rules on her illegal use of heart medication.
The five-time Grand Slam winner faces a lengthy ban after she tested positive for the heart drug meldonium at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Sharapova claims that she had been taking the medication on doctors’ advice and was unaware that it had been added to the WADA banned substances list on 1 January.
A panel in London will hear her case to decide if the violation was an “intentional” doping offence, which would carry a four-year ban from competition and could effectively end her career.
However the panel could also choose to hand down a reduced sentence of a year or less if they find that Sharapova, 29, did not deliberately break the rules and was not directly at fault for the positive test.
In May, WADA said there had been 288 positive tests for meldonium since the turn of the year, but admitted that they could be forced to throw out a number of suspensions due to “a lack of clear scientific information” about how long it takes the substance to leave an athlete’s body.
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