WADA announces 鈥榓mnesty鈥 over meldonium use
Print Edition
ATHLETES who tested positive for meldonium before March 1 this year could have their bans overturned after the World Anti-Doping Agency announced it was unable to establish how quickly the drug, outlawed since January 1, cleared the system.
WADA’s announcement could allow five-time grand slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova, who failed a test for meldonium in January, and other banned athletes to return to competition, Russian officials said yesterday.
Sharapova, the world’s highest-earning sportswoman, was among 40 Russians, and 80 others, who failed dope tests for meldonium after it was added to WADA’s list of banned substances in January.
WADA said there was “currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. As a result it is difficult to know whether an athlete may have taken the substance before or after January 1, when it became illegal. In these circumstances, WADA considers that there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete,” it said in a statement sent to anti-doping agencies and sports federations, adding that the presence of less than one microgram of meldonium in the samples was acceptable.
“It’s not an amnesty as such,” WADA President Craig Reedie insisted.
Sharapova, who said she had been taking meldonium for more than a decade because of health problems, was banned by the International Tennis Federation on March 12 after saying she had failed a test at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev said Sharapova’s ban could be addressed in a meeting with ITF head David Haggerty later this month.
“The situation with Sharapova could be resolved after April 21 when we meet with the head of the international federation. After that all should be become clear. It is too early to talk about Sharapova competing at the Olympic Games,” TASS news agency quoted Tarpishchev as saying.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko welcomed WADA’s decision. “The Russian Sports Ministry supports and welcomes the decision made by WADA because it has showed a willingness to understand the situation, rather than stick to the rule book,” Mutko said in a statement.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
