Maria Sharapova announces she failed drug test at Australian Open

[rmstock]

As part of the campaign to hurt Putin and Russia, not only economic
sanctions have been put in play, also a specialized drug developed in
Latvia used in the treatement of heart weaknesses and illnesses and
amongst other things diabetis was put on the WADA list of banned
substances, normally eligable for legal use by athletes during international
sporting events :


WADA updates list of banned substances
AP 6:13 a.m. EDT September 30, 2015
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2015/09/30/wada-updates-list-of-banned-substances/73073450/

  "MONTREAL (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency has added an anti-ischemic
   drug to its list of banned substances.
   
   WADA says meldonium, also known as mildronate, was included in the
   updated list because of "evidence of its use by athletes with the
   intention of enhancing performance."
   
   Developed in Latvia, meldonium has been used to treat ischemia, or lack
   of blood flow. Meldonium had previously been on WADA's list of drugs to
   be monitored.
   
   WADA also says the international motorcycling federation, FIM, has been
   removed from the list of sports prohibiting alcohol as a doping agent.
   It says FIM "will address the use of alcohol using their own
   regulations."
   
   WADA says caffeine and nicotine were placed on the list of stimulants
   to be monitored in competition.
   
   The updated list, approved on Sept. 16, comes into force on Jan. 1.
   
   Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
   may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed."

Since Januari the bloody victim list in Russian cycling, Russian
athletics and Russian tennis is growing like wildfire :


Eduard Vorganov

Eduard Vorganov was provisionally suspended after failing an anti-doping test. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com (File)
Russian minister: No 'problems of any kind' despite doping cases
By VeloNews.com  Published Feb. 8, 2016
http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/02/news/russian-minister_394887

  "MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's sports minister denied there were "problems of
   any kind" in Russian cycling despite several doping cases in recent
   days.

   "I fully trust the athletes and trainers," sports minister Vitaly Mutko
   told state news agency TASS on Monday, referring to the national
   cycling team. "I don't see problems of any kind here."
   
   Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA announced last week that track
   cyclist Yelena Brezhniva, a two-time European champion in the team
   sprint, had received a four-year suspension for doping. Her suspension
   was followed by that of Katusha rider Eduard Vorganov, a former Russian
   road race champion. Katusha suspended Vorganov from all team activities
   after he tested positive for meldonium, a substance that was only added
   to the banned list last month.
   
   The 33-year-old became the second Katusha rider to fail an anti-doping
   test in 12 months after Italy's Luca Paolini tested positive for
   cocaine on the 2015 Tour de France.
   
   Russia has vowed to fight doping after a World Anti-Doping Agency
   (WADA) independent commission last year released a report alleging
   state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in the country's athletics.
   Russian officials initially dismissed the WADA report findings as
   groundless, but acted upon some of its recommendations after President
   Vladimir Putin said the country "must do everything" to fight doping.

   The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)
   provisionally suspended Russia over the report in November, sparking
   fears that Russian track and field stars could be sidelined from this
   summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Both RUSADA and Russia's anti-doping
   laboratory were suspended over the scandal."

Team Katusha

Second positive test in 12 months could see Katusha sidelined up to 45 days
by Neal Rogers February 6, 2016
http://cyclingtips.com/2016/02/second-positive-test-in-12-months-could-see-katusha-sidelined-up-to-45-days/

  "Team Katusha, the Russian squad that fought the UCI to preserve its
   2013 WorldTour license, is facing a potential suspension from pro
   cycling's highest ranks after a second positive drug test in 12 months.
   
   The UCI reported Friday that Russian rider Eduard Vorganov tested
   positive for Meldonium, a hormone and metabolic modulator, in a sample
   collected during an out-of-competition control on January 14, 2016.
   
   Meldonium, also known as Mildronate, was placed on the World
   Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list on January 1.
   
   Produced in Latvia to treat angina and myocardial infarction, Meldonium
   is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the
   United States.
   
   It's the second adverse analytical finding for a Katusha rider in 12
   months, following Luca Paolini's positive result for cocaine during an
   in-competition control at the 2015 Tour de France.
   
   Disciplinary proceedings in that case are ongoing before the UCI
   Anti-Doping Tribunal, though Paolini has admitted his cocaine use and
   addiction to sleeping pills.
   
   Per UCI anti-doping rule article 7.12.1, Katusha now faces a potential
   suspension of 15-45 days, as determined by its Disciplinary Commission.
   
   
   
   In a statement, the UCI said that it will "refer the matter to the
   Disciplinary Commission, which will render a decision in the coming
   days."
   
   A 45-day suspension would mean the team of classics specialist
   Alexander Kristoff would miss Milano-Sanremo, while Spanish stage-racer
   Joaquim Rodriguez would miss Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta a Catalunya.
   
   UCI rules state that once a decision is rendered, it is "immediately
   enforceable and cannot be appealed, neither by the team nor by
   individual team members."
   
   However, Katusha may file a request to have the suspension lifted.
   
   In order for that to happen, the team would need to establish three
   things: 1. At least one of the two anti-doping violations has no
   reasonable prospect of being upheld; 2. at least one rider bears no
   fault or negligence for the anti-doping rule violation asserted; 3. at
   least one anti-doping rule violation was committed by the rider "with
   no involvement of any team member or staff, and that the team applied
   all due diligence and took all measures that could reasonably be
   expected in order to avoid the commission of anti-doping rule
   violations."
   
   Vorganov has the right to request and attend the analysis of the B
   sample.
   
   In a statement, Katusha said that Meldonium "has never been used by the
   team in any form and was not provided to the rider by the team," adding
   that Vorganov has been suspended from all team activities, effective
   immediately.
   
   "In the event that Eduard Vorganov took this product on his own
   initiative, Team Katusha will conduct an investigation as such conduct
   is in breach of the team's strict medical and anti-doping internal
   rules," the statement read. "With that said, Eduard Vorganov awaits the
   results of his B sample, and Team Katusha respects and will adhere to
   the process of the anti-doping authorities and will not comment further
   at this time."
   
   Likewise, the UCI concluded its statement saying, "At this stage of the
   procedure, the UCI will not comment any further on any of these
   matters."
   
   Vorganov's positive test comes during a perilous time for Russian
   athletes, and sporting organizations. A WADA report in November accused
   Russia of operating a state-sponsored doping program in track and field
   and also led to the national anti-doping agency RUSADA being stopped
   from carrying out tests, following accusations that it covered up drug
   use by Russian athletes.
   
   Implicated in that report were the All-Russia Athletic Federation
   (ARAF), the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, the Russian Anti-Doping
   Agency (RUSADA), and the Russian sports ministry. The Sunday Times
   alleged that Russian athletes suspected of doping had won 80 percent of
   Olympic and world championship medals between 2001 and 2012.
   
   Vorganov's is the eighth doping case for Katusha since its inception in
   2009. Others include Christian Pfannberger, Antonio Colom, Alexandr
   Kolobnev, Denis Menchov, Giampaolo Caruso, Denis Galimzyanov, and
   Paolini.
   
   Katusha team owner Igor Makarov became one of the wealthiest men in the
   world after founding gas giant Itera in the early 1990s. The
   multi-billion dollar empire controls a substantial portion of Russia's
   natural gas reserves. In 2008 he bought Oleg Tinkov's second-division
   squad and turned it into Katusha, Russia's only WorldTour team.
   
   Makarov is president of both the Russian federation and the Russian
   Global Cycling Project, which is known to have a board of officials
   close to President Vladimir Putin.
   
   Makarov also holds a seat on the UCI's powerful Management Committee,
   and was instrumental in unseating former UCI president Pat McQuaid.
   That relationship soured when the UCI's License Commission ruled that
   Katusha should have its 2013 WorldTour License revoked on ethical
   grounds. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the decision,
   but Makarov quickly became vocal in his support for Brian Cookson, even
   going so far as to compiling a dossier of testimonies and allegations
   of corruption at the UCI under McQuaid."


http://www.tennisforum.com/12-general-messages/1062297-meldonium-enhances-stamina-brain-function-7.html

and today [Mon, Mar 7, 2016] its another bloody tennis disaster for Russia :

Maria Sharapova announces she failed drug test at Australian Open
https://www.yahoo.com/digest/20160307/maria-sharapova-announces-failed-drug-test-australian-open-10223035



  "Maria Sharapova has announced that she failed a drug test at the
   Australian Open. The tennis star received a letter from the
   International Tennis Foundation several days ago informing her that she
   had failed the test for Meldonium, a substance that had been legal
   until Jan. 1 of this year. Sharapova did not indicate what the
   penalties would be or how long she might be away from the game. She
   began taking Meldonium in 2006 to aid in a variety of health problems.
   However, the drug was added to a list of banned substances at the
   beginning of 2016. Sharapova said she did not look at the list from the
   World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), and thus indicated that she
   failed the drug test because of ignorance.
   
   I don't want to end my career this way. I really hope I will be given
   another chance to play this game.
   Sharapova
   
   Meldonium aids in athletes' endurance and rehabilitation. It had been
   on the agency's watch list in 2015 and was formally banned at the
   beginning of this year. On Dec. 22, 2015, WADA sent out an email
   indicating what drugs would be banned starting in 2016. Sharapova
   conceded that she received the email but did not read it. She has not
   competed since January's Australian Open, where she fell to Serena
   Williams in the quarterfinals.The five-time Grand Slam champion has
   suffered a rash of injuries over the last few years, including one that
   forced her withdrawal from last year's U.S. Open and, more recently, an
   arm injury that resulted in her pulling out of the BNP Paribas Open in
   Indian Wells, Calif.
   
   Sharapova, 28, is currently ranked 7th in the world.
   
   Meldonium
   Meldonium is clinically used to treat angina and myocardial infarction.
   The first clinical trial testing the efficacy of using a combination of
   meldonium and lisinopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor,
   to treat chronic heart failure was reported in 2005. The report
   demonstrated that the combined treatment of meldonium and lisinopril
   may improve the quality of life, exercise capacity and mechanisms of
   peripheral circulation of patients with chronic heart failure.