CAS reduces ban on Maria Sharapova by 15 months

The CAS Panel in charge of the matter has reduced her period of suspension, by nine months, from two years to fifteen months, beginning on Jan 26.

On Jan 1, 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s latest list of prohibited substances came into force and included Meldonium for the first time. In March 2016, Sharapova was informed by the ITF that a sample she provided on Jan 26, during the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament, had tested positive for the presence of Meldonium.

Sharapova waived her right to have the B sample tested and publicly announced that she had inadvertently committed an anti-doping rule violation as a result of taking Mildronate tablets that had been prescribed by her doctor for many years since she and her team had failed to notice that Meldonium, marketed as Mildronate, now featured on the Prohibited List.

"On 6 June 2016, the Independent Tribunal appointed by the ITF to hear the player’s case found that Ms Sharapova had committed an anti-doping rule violation, disqualified her results at the 2016 Australian Open, and imposed a period of ineligibility of two years on the player," read an official statement.

On June 9, Sharapova filed an appeal at the CAS against the Independent Tribunal’s decision, arguing that she did not take Mildronate to enhance her performance and that her period of ineligibility should be reduced on the basis of “No Significant Fault”.

The ITF requested that the Panel reject the player’s plea of “No Significant Fault” and leave the Independent Tribunal’s decision undisturbed. The arbitration was conducted by a panel of CAS arbitrators: Prof. Luigi Fumagalli, Italy (President), Jeffrey G. Benz, USA and Mr David W. Rivkin, USA.

The Panel held a hearing with the parties in New York on Sept 7 and 8 September 2016.