The Meldonium Mess

Sharapova is not being barred for bad behavior. She is ineligible based on her current world ranking and requires a special invitation, or wildcard granting permission to play in the French Open. Sharapova simply has not had enough time since the end of her suspension to raise her ranking. The French open declined to make the invitation despite a large financial incentive to offer the invitation.Of course, there is some politics involved.British tennis divided over Maria Sharapova wildcard | Daily Mail Online

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The most questionable aspect of the Sharapova decision was the simultaneous award of a wildcard to men's player Constant Lestienne, who is coming back from a ban for betting on matches.

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I would expect that tournaments have nearly complete discretion in deciding to whom they want to extend wild-cards. But we can still question whether the decision was made fairly.I've read that Martina Navratilova is among the former pros who is supportive of giving Sharapova wildcards, but I've also heard that a number of current players and former players were incensed when she received a wildcard to play in a previous tournament. Here is Pam Shriver's take (from the same article cited above):

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'It has to be a popular decision in the women's locker room,' she told ESPN in reference to the French non-invitation. 'So many players who are admired and looked up to have spoken out against Sharapova. The feeling has to be that we are not going to grant special privileges to anyone, no matter how successful they have been.

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She (Sharapova) needs to take a step back and reconcile that her return to major tennis is going to have to wait and not be bitter about it.'

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It appears that Sharapova will need a wildcard to enter the Australian Open and Wimbledon as well. Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Here's a good article summarizing the issues brought about by the French refusal to offer Sharapova a wildcard based upon their own interpretation of how her drug appeal should be handled: Shutting Sharapova out of the French Open could create future headaches--Percy

During the 2022 U.S. Open Simona Halep, a Romanian tennis star, a former French Open and Wimbledon champion and a former world #1, tested positive for a banned substance, roxadustat. She hasn't played since. The ruling body of tennis still hasn't ruled on her appeal where she argued that the substance was in a contaminated supplement, one which is approved. The ITIA (International Teniis Integrity Agency) has since added a second doping charge, one which sounds so bizarre and complex that I'll just quote from the ITIA press release:

ITIA:

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“The ABP programme, developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency and incorporated into the TADP under the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), is a method by which anti-doping organisations monitor various blood parameters over time, to identify potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). The additional charge of an Adverse Passport Finding was based on an assessment of Ms. Halep’s ABP profile by an independent ABP Expert Panel."

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Whether Halep is guilty or not should not take 10 months to figure out. Athletic careers are short. This echos what happened to Sharapova, another older athlete and the original subject of this thread who attempted a comeback after her lengthy doping ban, but at her age it was too much and she retired. Halep is 31 and was ranked #7 in the world when she was hit with the doping ban. The 10 month delay in reaching a ruling is both typical and inexcusable. I hope it's also open to civil suits, because this degree of ineptness deserves to be sued. Justice delayed is justice denied.Roxadustat is used to treat anemia in patients with renal failure. It has an athletic side-effect of stimulating the production of red blood cells.--Percy

Halep's mistreatment at the hands of the ITIA continues. This board is evidently accountable to no one. The hearing took place near the end of June with a ruling promised within two weeks. It has now been six weeks and no one has heard a word. The ITIA is just sitting on its hands for all anyone knows while Halep's athletic career sinks deeper and deeper into ruin.The biggest mystery is this lack of accountability by the ITIA. Who do they report to? How did they get the right to issue charges, suspend the player pending a hearing, then wait 10 months to hold the hearing? How did they get the right to issue rulings at any arbitrary time of their choosing instead of when promised?Halep's tennis success has made her a millionaire many times over. She can afford lawyers. If any legal avenues are open to her I hope she is pursuing them. This affair which includes no presumption of innocence until proven guilty has already cost her millions of dollars. It just feels like there should definitely be a lawsuit against the ITIA by this time, with Maria Sharapova filing an amici curiae in support of Halep's position, since Sharapova suffered the same thing a few years ago.From International Tennis Integrity Agency - Wikipedia:

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The ITIA is legally independent of the IGBs (International Governing Bodies of tennis) and makes its own decisions on investigations and prosecutions. In this respect it is unusual in global sports.

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The ITIA is supervised by the Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board (TISB) which has 5 independent members and 4 tennis members, representing the IGBs. The TISB is currently chaired by Jennie Price CBE, former CEO of Sport England.

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Concerning the delay, here is a quote of Halep on May 23rd of this year:

Simon Halep:

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While the ITIA via their representative Nicole Sapstead was publicly stating 3 days ago that the ITIA has remained committed to engaging Mrs Halep in an empathetic, efficient and timely manner, they were at the same time officially requesting the Tribunal to delay my hearing... for the third time.

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It seems to me that legal avenues and requests for damages are open paths for Halep, and I hope she takes them. What the ITIA is doing seems unconscionable. Just imagine the consequences to yourself if a failed drug test resulted in you being suspended from your job without pay pending a hearing, and then the hearing was delayed nearly a year with no ruling in sight.--Percy

What is their motive for doing this? Why the delays? Are there political (other?) reasons? Is this an NFL (american football) situation where the high and mighty league decides and that's the way it is, period? Any insights on ITIA's personality?

Some sports come down really hard on cheaters who they believe they've proven have taken steroids or performed blood doping or used a drug that enhances the heart's pumping ability and on and on. The list of drugs athletes must avoid is very, very long, with the emphasis on "very".Another example of the same problem in another sport is Shelby Houlihan, a middle distance runner who has been banned from running competitions for over four years, forcing her to miss out on two Olympics and causing her to lose out on about $2 million in income.If an athlete fails multiple tests and investigations have uncovered who provided the drugs and they've identified witnesses of the person acquiring on taking the drugs, then throw the book at them. But throwing the book for one failed drug test at trace levels is just beyond the pale.I don't know why sports organizations are so punitive even with scant evidence. It makes no sense to me. From what I've read these organizations provide no transparency to their inner workings or timetables. The athletes affected are as much in the dark as everyone else.Houlihan will be allowed to resume competitive running again in February of 2025, but I believe she'll be 32 by then. And after a ten month ban and counting Halep, who I think is 31, still has no idea when she'll be able to resume competitive tennis. She's a former #1 and has won several Grand Slams, as was true of Sharapova before her.For Halep life will go on. She's a millionaire many times over, she's a god in her home country of Romania, she's married to a billionaire, life is good. But if this is how they treat Halep, imagine how they treat someone who's nobody, someone ranked somewhere in the top 200 in the world who's playing ITF tournaments (equivalent of minor leagues, very little money), living hand to mouth, traveling by bus when possible, and staying in people's homes or fleabag hotels, perhaps even with no coach or trainer, certainly no full time ones.For players in the top few hundred in the world who have made little or no money on the tour there is a considerable potential upside after they retire. They are tennis gods and can leverage their talent and experience into lucrative teaching/coaching positions. While salaries at a top academy like the IMG (formerly Nick Bollettieri's academy) probably average around $50K, special positions are created for former pros who while their salary probably isn't much higher, they can command $500/hour for private lessons. If they don't mind continuing the travel they can sign on with current pros at salaries that at the top level are around $1.5 million.I like the quickness and certainty of the NFL. "So-and-so tested positive for a banned substance and is suspended for four games." Second offense is ten games. Third is a season. No delay, no mystery. What other sports like tennis and running are doing where every offense has a unique outcome is a crime.--Percy

Halep has been banned for four years, effectively ending her tennis career. Even if an entire nunnery had testified they’d seen her shooting up with multiple banned substances on numerous occasions, so huge a punishment would be beyond the pale.Halep says she will appeal.—Percy

After seeing tennis end the careers of Sharipova and Halep, skating has joined tennis by ending the career of Kamila Valieva, banner her from skating competition for four years.For comparison, penalties for first offense doping violations are all less than a single season in MLB, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL.I've railed on and on about the injustice of these incredibly extreme punishments. There's nothing more I can add. I can only repeat that it continues to be absurd.--Percy

This news is much delayed, probably because the New York Times has placed their sports reporting behind another paywall. I have a New York Times subscription, but this doesn't give me access to their sports pages.The big news is that back in March of this year Halep won her appeal of her four year ban from tennis, which would have effectively ended her tennis career. Probably no one will be able to read this, but here's the link: Simona Halep gets her biggest win — but there is no making up for lost time.The ruling bodies in tennis covered themselves in further anti-glory with their ruling on world number 1 Jannik Sinner, whose doping charges were overturned in record time after he twice tested positive for clostebol. He lost no time off the tour compared to Halep's twenty months and Sharapova's fourteen months.Despite her courtroom victory, Halep will not be appearing at this year's U.S. Open that begins next week at Flushing Meadow in New York City. She has not returned to the court due to a knee injury suffered during practice while maintaining her level of play and conditioning. She has not appeared in a professional match in two years.The penalties for doping in tennis, running and skating are absurd. The most common penalty seems to be four years, which is career ending. Even a successful challenge takes at least a year. By way of contrast, in the NFL the penalty for the first doping offense is four games, the second is ten games, the third is a season. No delay, no endless hearings and court challenges.--Percy