Though the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has issued new rules for the athletes who took the banned substance Meldonium but still the ace Russian tennis player, Maria Sharapova has to face a hearing for her deed.
WADA on Wednesday announced in a notice that the athletes who tested positive for taking Meldonium could have their bans overturned if their doping tests were conducted before March 1 and the concentration of Meldonium found in their body system is less than one microgram. The reason behind this notice is WADA was unable to establish how quickly the drug cleared the human body and thus the athletes tested positive for taking this banned substance can resume their career the athlete at the issue was not a subject to any sanctions whatsoever.
Though this news could cheer up the five-time grand slam champions Maria Sharapova who was tested positive for taking Meldonium at this year’s Australian Open in January, after the drug was added to WADA’s list of banned substances, but this is not the case. The glamour girl of the tennis circuit will still have to face the hearings in front of WADA. And for that reason the tennis sensation will also miss the upcoming French Open to be held in France between May 16 and June 5.
The International Tennis Federation also backed up the decision of the World Anti Doping Agency and commented in a statement on Wednesday: “In light of the recent notice from WADA regarding the process for dealing with cases involving meldonium, the ITF can confirm that the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme case involving Maria Sharapova will proceed to a hearing in accordance with WADA’s recommendations. The ITF does not intend to make any further statement until completion of this process due to the confidentiality of the Tennis AntiDoping Programme.”
On the other hand, the Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov got benefitted by this latest decision by WADA and is ready to resume his career again, his coach Alexander Tolkachev has said in a recent statement. The coach of the 33-year old Russian cyclist who was in the champion team of Russia’s 2012 cycling championship said that the cyclist filed an inquiry with the International Cycling Union (ICU) seeking the organization to provide data on Meldonium’s concentration in his doping sample.
“Neither he (Vorganov), nor the Russian Cycling Federation have information on the discovered volume (of Meldonium’s concentration).He made an inquiry via his lawyer with the ICU and we do not know how long it would take them to reply. He wants to return as he is a real professional,”
