War wound: Maria Sharapova drug was used by Soviet military troops in Afghanistan in 1980s
The drug at the centre of Maria Sharapova’s doping case, regularly given to Soviet troops in the 1980s to boost their stamina while fighting in Afghanistan, is normally prescribed for medical use for periods of four to six weeks.
Sharapova faces possible sanctions after testing positive for meldonium, also known as mildronate, a drug the Russian tennis star said she started using 10 years ago for various medical issues. Sharapova did not indicate in her announcement on Monday how often she has taken it.
Her lawyer, John Haggerty, declined to go into specifics but said during a conference call he wanted “to disabuse the concept that Maria took mildronate every day for 10 years because that’s simply not the case”.
They were all given meldonium. They themselves were not aware they were using it. No one was being asked [if they agree to it] back then
Grindeks, the Latvian company that manufactures meldonium, said in a statement : “Depending on the patient’s health condition, treatment course of meldonium preparations may vary from four to six weeks. Treatment course can be repeated twice or thrice a year. Only physicians can follow and evaluate patient’s health condition and state whether the patient should use meldonium for a longer period of time.”
Haggerty said “Maria at all times took the mildronate in accordance with the recommendations of her doctor.” He repeatedly declined to go into specifics about Sharapova’s treatment, claiming he had to adhere to the “strict confidentiality” of the International Tennis Federation’s process. An ITF spokesman said, however, that the organisation places no restrictions on what players and their representatives can say publicly about an ongoing case.
Sharapova, a five-time grand slam champion, said Monday she failed a doping test at the Australian Open in January for meldonium, which became a banned substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency code this year.
