The one question about the Maria Sharapova doping shock is, why did she risk endorsement deals valued at $30 million a year? It defies logic. And if there is an
explanation, we still don’t know it. The most known face and the highest paid athlete in the world of women’s tennis sank like a stone in the Volga river after she revealed
that she had used meldonium, a drug that was legal until December 31 2015, for 25 years during the Australian Open. The drug was detected by the anti-doping regime, but Maria went ahead of the story and broke the news to the world.
There was an outpouring of sympathy. Steve Simon, head of the Women’s Tennis Association said, “Maria is a leader and
I have always known her to be a woman of integrity”. Serena
Williams, another tennis star said, “Sharapova showed a lot of
courage.” Caroline Wozniacki was not so generous. In reality
Sharapova had no choice. Coming clean and admitting one’s
guilt always looks better on TV than having an official of the
anti-doping regime break the news.
Sharapova’s story is multi-layered
and it is difficult to separate fact
from fiction; truth from lies and lies
from white lies. And then, there is
perception. The tennis star told the
world that she had been using meldonium
for over 12 years because
her family had a history of diabetes.
Use of the drug was legal even though it had performance enhancing
qualities but it became illegal on January 1 and Sharapova
claims she did not read the memo. The story seems believable,
but the more important question is why was she using
a drug that was banned in the US? And why use meldonium
when other drugs are available. Also, why are so many other
athletes using the same drug? The answer is obvious.
The use of performance enhancing drug in sport is alarming
and recently the Russian national athletics federation was
suspended from competition after being accused of running
a state-sponsored doping regime to enhance performance.
Lance Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven consecutive
times had a mighty tumble from grace after revealing
that he had used an assortment of drugs to enhance his
performance. Sharapova is neither the first nor the last athlete
to dope, but her story reveals that sport is not as clean as it
should be.
What happens now? The five-time Grand Slam winner will
face a provisional ban pending an appeal. In the normal
course she would face a four ban from sport, which could effectively
end her career. But since the drug does not fall in the
upper category she could face a one year ban or even less if
a tribunal believes her story, which is, she forgot to read the
email. Normally athletes are supposed to declare the drugs
they are using in a form and if Sharapova mentioned meldonium,
it will strengthen her story. On the other hand if she had
been legally using the drug for 12 years why mention it? These
matters are best left to tribunals.
Innocent or not, Sharapova will have to face the music and
live with the consequences of willful or mistaken use of performance
enhancing drugs. She now follows a long list of famous
athletes who lost big endorsements in a day on account of errors.
One may or may not sympathise with the tennis star, but
one cannot run away from the fact that the anti-doping regime
needs to be strengthened because the fight to clean sport of
dirty elements must go on.
