Maria Sharapova should be held accountable for her actions according to 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer.
Earlier this week Sharapova was handed a two-year ban after failing a drugs test during the Australian Open. The Russian tested positive for meldonium, a substance added to the list of banned substances on January 1st 2016. Throughout the investigation Sharapova has stressed that she was unaware that the substance was banned and she has been taking it for ten years to treat her health issues.
Speaking about the verdict shortly after his three sets win over Taylor Fritz at the Stuttgart Open, Federer showed little sympathy for Sharapova. The 34-year-old said it was her own fault due to her neglect of checking the list of banned substances.
“It doesn’t matter if they did it on purpose or not, I don’t really see the difference,” Federer said.
“You need to know what goes into your body, you have to be 100 percent sure of what’s going on. If you’re not, you’re going to be damned.”
Federer has also called for ‘zero-tolerance’ in the sport concerning doping violations. It isn’t the first time that the Swiss player has been vocal about his opposition to doping. Earlier in the season, he was critical of the consistency of drugs tests around the world. One example he use was his trips to Dubai, where he has only been tested only once in the past ten years.
During last year’s ATP Finals Federer was amongst a group of leading players calling for an improvement in anti-doping measures (others included Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic). Speaking to the media in London, the world No. 3 said that there should be more out of competition tests conducted.
“I think they are trying their most but we can do more.” Federer said last November concerning the effectiveness of doping controls.
“Whenever you make the quarter-finals of a tournament, when the points are greater, the money is greater, you should know that you will be tested. I think that would be very clear and simple. And if they keep the tests for longer, I’m all for that, not just weeks and months, years I’m talking about. That’s the way to scare people.”
Sharapova is currently suspended from the tour until January 2018. It has been confirmed that she will launch an appeal against the punishment to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
