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.
