Sharapova decides to appeal two-year disqualification at CAS
MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - The tennis player Maria Sharapova, who was disqualified for two years for doping, said on her official Facebook page that she will appeal this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension. The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport <...> I will fight to be back on the tennis court as soon as possible," the athlete said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the International Tennis Federation disqualified Sharapova for two years for violating anti-doping rules. This means that she will miss the Olympic Games in Brazil. She will also be stripped of the points and prizes she earned at the 2016 Australian Open, where she reached a quarter-final, ceding to Serena Williams of the United States.
On March 7, Sharapova said at a press conference in U.S. that her doping sample which was taken during the Australian Open in January had been found to contain traces of Meldonium, which has been on the list of banned substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency since January 1, 2016.
According Sharapova, she had been taking the drug for many years and was unaware of its ban.