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Maria Sharapova Will Miss Olympics After Doping Appeal Is Delayed

Maria Sharapova Will Miss Olympics After Doping Appeal Is Delayed

She's appealing to CAS

Anonymous

Anonymous

Banned tennis star Maria Sharapova will not be able to represent Russia at the Olympics next month after her appeal against a doping ban was delayed until after the games in Rio this summer.

After a standard drugs test, at the Australian Open in January, Sharapova revealed in March that she'd tested positive for use of meldonium. The drug was added to the banned substances list at the beginning of the year.

The 29 year old former Wimbledon champion was given a two year ban in June which she intends to appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport however both her and CAS require more time to prepare their cases so the appeal will be heard in September instead.

A statement about the postponement read, "Maria Sharapova and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have agreed to defer the Cas decision until September 2016. A decision is expected to be issued by 19 September 2016."

The Olympics start on August 5th and Sharapova was originally included in the Russian squad for the games but this news means her ban can't be overturned before the start and so she remains banned for the time being.

Considering all of Russia's problems with doping in athletics it's probably best that they aren't represented by someone banned for doping!

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Topics: olympics, Tennis, 2016 Olympics, Drugs