Maria Sharapova has had her doping ban reduced from two years to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 29-year-old was suspended by the International Tennis Federation earlier this year after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The five-time Grand Slam winner claimed to have been taking the substance since 2006 due to health problems and neglected to check the updated banned list on January 1 of this year, when meldonium was added.
However, having initially been hit with a two-year ban, the Russian has seen it reduced to 15 months, making her eligible to return to action on April 26, 2017.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel found that Ms Sharapova had a reduced perception of the risk that she took while using Mildronate, because (a) she had used Mildronate for around 10 years without any anti-doping issue, (b) she had consulted the Russian doctor who prescribed the Mildronate for medical reasons, not to enhance her performance, and (c) she had received no specific warning about the change in status of meldonium from WADA, the ITF, or the WTA," read a statement from the ITF.
"In addition, the CAS panel considered that it was reasonable for Ms Sharapova to entrust the checking of the Prohibited List each year to her agent. However, the CAS panel found that Ms Sharapova was at fault for (a) failing to give her agent adequate instructions as to how to carry out the important task of checking the Prohibited List, and (b) failing to supervise and control the actions of her agent in carrying out that task (specifically the lack of any procedure for reporting or follow-up verification to make sure that her agent had actually discharged his duty).
"The CAS panel also noted Ms Sharapova's failure to disclose her use of meldonium on her doping control forms. Taking all of these circumstances into account, the CAS panel determined that, although Ms. Sharapova was at fault, her plea of no significant fault or negligence should be upheld, triggering a discretion to reduce the otherwise applicable two-year sanction by up to 50%. Based on its analysis of Ms Sharapova's degree of fault, the CAS panel decided that the sanction should be reduced in this case to 15 months."
The decision to reduce Sharapova's ban means that she will be able to play in the French Open next year.
Barney Corkhill
