Maria Sharapova will find out the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday afternoon.
The former world No.1 is currently serving a two-year ban from the sport after testing positive for meldonium, a substance that was added to the list of prohibited substances on January 1st. Sharapova’s legal team launched the appeal to the CAS on June 9th, but there has been numerous delays in the appeal process in order for further evidence to be gathered and review.
“(The) decision in the case of Maria Sharapova v. International Tennis Federation to be released at 3.00pm (Swiss time) on 4 October 2016.” The CAS said on their website.
Sharapova hasn’t played a match on the tour since her quarterfinal loss to Serena Williams at the Australian Open earlier this year. Under her current ban, the Russian is prohibited from participating in a professional tournament until January 26th 2018.
The case involving Sharapova has brought the legality of meldonium into the limelight. It was added to the list of banned substances after a study found widespread misuse of the drug during the 2015 European Games.
Earlier this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency had to modify their policy on the drug after research discovered that the drug can be traced in a person’s body weeks after taking it. World No.92 Varvara Lepchenko tested positive for the substance four times between January – April this year and was provisionally suspended. She avoided a ban after the ITF accepted the evidence she presented which showed she consumed the drug in December, a month before it was banned.
“It was accepted by the ITF that Ms. Lepchenko bore no fault or negligence for the violation, and that any period of ineligibility that may otherwise have been imposed is eliminated entirely under Programme Article 10.4.” The ITF said in a report.
Unlike Lepchenko, Sharapova admitted to taking the drug whilst the ban was in effect because she was aware that it became a prohibited substance, an explanation that was deemed unacceptable by the ITF during her original hearing.
