World Anti-Doping Agency Is Giving Meldonium Users a Chance for a Reprieve
Less than six months before the Olympics, a potential reprieve for some athletes accused of doping.
FOX’s Chris Hoenig reports:
Limited data exists on how long it takes meldonium, a new drug on the banned substance list, to clear the body, so the World Anti-Doping Agency is giving some athletes the chance to overturn their provisional suspensions, if they can prove they took the drug before January 1, when its use was prohibited in sports.
More than 120 athletes have tested positive since the start of the year, including tennis star Maria Sharapova:
(Sharapova) “I don’t want to end my career this way and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game.”
Sharapova is unlikely to get a reprieve, however, as she said she just didn’t know that the drug, which she’s taken for 10 years, was banned on January 1.
Chris Hoenig, FOX News.