Russian officials Tuesday threw their backing behind tennis star Maria Sharapova after she failed a drug test at the Australian Open. "I feel sorry for Masha. I hope that we will see her back on court and we are prepared to support her," Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told state-run TASS news agency, using the Russian diminutive of Sharapova's first name. "She travels from tournament to tournament and has a punishing schedule. The people in her team should be looking out for her." Sharapova announced Monday that she had tested positive for Meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking since 2006 but that was only added to the banned list this year. The former world No. 1 from Russia said a change in the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list for 2016 led to an inadvertent violation, for which she will be "provisionally suspended" by the International Tennis Federation. Sharapova said she originally began taking Meldonium for a variety of symptoms, including a tendency to become ill often, an irregular EKG heart test and a family history of diabetes. Meldonium — manufactured in Latvia but not approved by US regulators — is used to treat heart trouble, including angina and heart failure. Sharapova said she was cooperating with the ITF and did not yet know the extent of the sanctions she would face. Her attorney, John Haggerty, said the positive test could carry a ban of up to four years, but that mitigating circumstances could see a lesser penalty. Shamil Tarpishchev, head of the Russian tennis federation, told TASS he believed Sharapova would still have a chance to play at the Rio Olympics in August. In a statement released by the federation, Tarpishchev pledged to do "everything that is needed from our side to help Masha." "The Russian Tennis Federation supports Masha and we are sure that she will emerge with dignity from this trial," the statement said. A string of sports figures have tested positive for Meldonium this year, including Russian ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, Ukrainian biathletes Artem Tyshchenko and Olga Abramova and Ethiopian-born Swede Abebe Aregawi, the 2013 women's 1,500m world champion. Mutko warned that more Russian competitors could be hit by the Meldonium ban and said he would summon the country's sports chiefs to discuss the issue. Counting the cost Three of Sharapova's major sponsors are cutting ties with the Russian tennis star after she acknowledged failing a doping test. Sportswear giant Nike, Swiss watch brand Tag Heuer and German car manufacturers Porsche moved quickly to distance themselves from the five-time Grand Slam winner. Sharapova is thought to be the world's highest-paid female athlete due to endorsement deals and her extensive business ventures, including a high-profile candy line, Sugarpova. Forbes estimated her earnings at $29.5 million for 2015. "She's a one-woman marketing machine," said Nigel Currie, an independent British-based sponsorship consultant. "There are lots of male stars in the world, but not many female stars." ‘4-6 weeks is normal treatment, not 10 yrs' The Latvian company that manufactures Meldonium says the normal course of treatment for the drug is four to six weeks — not the 10 years that Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova says she used the substance. The former No. 1 said she had taken meldonium, a heart medicine which improves blood flow and is little-known in the US, for a decade following various health problems including regular sicknesses, early signs of diabetes and "irregular" results from echocardiography exams. Meldonium was banned because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance, and several athletes in various international sports have already been caught using it since it was banned on Jan. 1. Latvian company Grindeks, which manufactures meldonium, told the Associated Press that four to six weeks was a common course. "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," the company said in an emailed statement. "Only physicians can follow and evaluate patient's health condition and state whether the patient should use meldonium for a longer period of time." While Grindeks has previously stated that the drug can provide an "improvement of work capacity of healthy people at physical and mental overloads and during rehabilitation period," the company said Tuesday that it believed the substance would not enhance athletes' performance in competition and might even do the opposite. "It would be reasonable to recommend them to use meldonium as a cell protector to avoid heart failure or muscle damage in case of unwanted overload," the company said. Grindeks said that, in sports activity, the drug slows down how the body breaks down fatty acids to produce energy. — Agencies
