Phelps urges U.S. lawmakers to push for anti-doping reform

WASHINGTON - Michael Phelps urged U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to push for a reform of the global anti-doping effort in sport after a career in which the Olympic great said he was never confident he was competing against clean athletes.

Testifying in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Finance, the most decorated Olympian expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in the battle against the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

"I don't believe I've stood up at an international competition and the rest of the field has been clean," said Phelps, whose Olympic haul includes 23 gold medals. "I don't think I've ever felt that. I know when I do stand up in the U.S. I know we're all clean because we go through the same thing.

"Throughout my career I have though that some athletes were cheating and in some cases those suspicions were confirmed.

"Given all the testing I and others have been through, I have a hard time understanding this."

  
Phelps was joined at the hearing by Athens Summer Games shot put gold medalist Adam Nelson who waited nine years to receive his medal after Ukraine's Yuri Belonog was stripped of his gold following a failed drugs test.

Nelson delivered an emotional account as he recalled the day he received his gold medal while at a food court in the Atlanta airport from a U.S. Olympic Committee official who was there changing planes.

"The medal came with a side of fries and a free toy. Don't worry about it." Nelson joked. "It was nine years after that moment had passed.

"The color and timing of a medal matter, folks. Silver does not hold the same value and gold loses its shine over time."

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart, who has called for stronger sanctions against Russian athletes after investigations uncovered evidence of state sponsored doping, used the stage to once again blast the International Olympic Committee for refusing to get tough on dopers.

Ignoring calls to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics, the IOC left it up to individual sport governing bodies to determine if Russian athletes should be allowed to compete in last year's Rio Summer Games.

"At least two Olympic Games were corrupted and at the Rio Games this past August scores of Russian athletes were allowed to compete without credible anti-doping measures," said Tygart.

"When the moment came, despite mountains of evidence and vocal opposition from anti-doping leaders and clean athletes from around the world, the IOC chose to welcome the Russian Olympic Committee to Rio."

IOC President Thomas Bach declined an invitation to attend Tuesday's hearing.

The U.S. government provides funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency budget and the House committee may make recommendations on any funding increases they feel are may be needed to improve the current system.

(Editing by Steve Keating and Frank Pingue)

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WADA suspends Mexico laboratory for non-compliance

Mexico's anti-doping laboratory has had its accreditation suspended for up to six months for failing to comply with international standards, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The suspension of the Laboratorio Nacional de Prevencion y Control del Dopaje comes just 10 days after WADA announced the laboratory in Qatar, host country of the 2022 soccer World Cup, had been suspended for four months.

The suspension, which took effect on Nov. 23, prohibits the Mexico lab from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

The laboratory may apply for reinstatement prior to the expiry of the six-month suspension period.

During the ban, samples must be sent to another WADA-accredited laboratory, "ensuring that athletes can have full confidence in continued high quality sample analysis and the wider anti-doping system."

WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories according to criteria set by the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL).

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)

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Sharapova faces suspension after failing drug test

LOS ANGELES - Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, the highest-paid woman in sports, said on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking for 10 years for health issues.

The 28-year-old Sharapova, a five-time grand slam champion, will be provisionally suspended starting March 12, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said.

One of her biggest sponsors, Nike Inc., said it was suspending ties while the case is being investigated.



She is the seventh athlete in a month to test positive for meldonium, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium, and was only banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as of Jan. 1.

"I made a huge mistake. I let my fans down and I let the sport down," said Sharapova, a teenage tennis prodigy who became the third-youngest Wimbledon champion. "I take full responsibility for it."

"I know that with this I face consequences and I don't want to end my career this way. I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game," former world number one Sharapova told a news conference in a downtown Los Angeles hotel.

In its statement to put ties on hold that came just hours after the tennis star's announcement, Nike, the world's largest sportswear maker, said, "We are saddened and surprised by the news about Maria Sharapova."

The ITF's anti-doping program calls for a four-year suspension for a positive test, but that ban can be reduced in various circumstances, such as for first-time offences or if the player shows no significant fault or negligence.

If a player bears no fault or negligence, there is no suspension.

TAKEN MELDONIUM FOR 10 YEARS

According to Forbes, she earned $29.5 million in 2015, mostly from endorsements.

Sharapova said her family doctor had been giving her mildronate, which is also called meldonium, for 10 years after she frequently became sick, had irregular EKG results, a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes.

"It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on WADA's banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine. But on January the first, the rules have changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance."

WADA declined to comment until ITF issues a final decision.

Meldonium is used to treat chest pain and heart attacks among other conditions, but some researchers have linked it to increased athletic performance and endurance. It is listed by WADA among its prohibited metabolic modulators, along with insulin, and some researchers say it can also help recovery.

It is not approved in the United States but is available in Russia, Latvia and other countries in that region.

Over the past month, Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov, Russian figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, Ethiopia-born athletes Endeshaw Negesse and Abeba Aregawi, and Ukraine biathletes Olga Abramova and Artem Tyshchenko have all tested positive for meldonium.

Sharapova is the most prominent tennis player to test positive for a banned substance in recent years.

Croatia's Marin Cilic was banned for nine months in 2013 after testing positive for a prohibited stimulant, though the suspension was cut to four months on appeal.

Former world number one Martina Hingis retired after receiving a two-year suspension for a positive cocaine test in 2007, though the Swiss denied taking the drug.

WTA SADDENED BY NEWS

Last year, the sport banned U.S. player Wayne Odesnik for 15 years after his second doping violation, testing positive for steroids and other banned substances.

Sharapova is the biggest name in sport to test positive since New York Yankees baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez was banned for a year in 2013 after using performance-enhancing drugs and American cyclist Lance Armstrong was banned for life from racing in 2012 after a U.S. Anti-Doping investigation.

Sharapova, one of the most popular figures in global sports, has long been a favourite with her sponsors. Cosmetics maker Avon Products Inc declined to comment on its endorsements.

Steve Simon, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, said in a statement he was saddened to hear the news.

"Maria (Sharapova) is a leader and I have always known her to be a woman of great integrity," he said.

"Nevertheless, as Maria acknowledged, it is every player's responsibility to know what they put in their body and to know if it is permissible. The WTA will support the decisions reached through this process."

The news came a day after Sharapova's management team said she was going to make a "major announcement," which had many speculating that she was going to announce her retirement from professional tennis.

Sharapova, who has struggled with a series of injuries in recent years, has not competed since she lost to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January.

Renowned for her never-say-die approach, a gritty baseline game and high-decibel shrieking, Sharapova at 17 became the first Russian woman to win Wimbledon when she beat Serena Williams 6-1 6-4 in the 2004 final.

That victory also made her the third-youngest Wimbledon champion, behind only Lottie Dod and Hingis, and the fourth-youngest grand slam winner in the open era after Hingis, Monica Seles and Tracy Austin.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker/Peter Rutherford/John O'Brien)

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Mayweather denies violation before Pacquiao bout

LAS VEGAS - The build-up to Saturday's welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Berto has been rocked by suggestions of a doping violation four months ago, an allegation flatly denied by Mayweather on Thursday.

According to a report by SB Nation, Mayweather allegedly received an intravenous injection of saline and vitamins, that was banned under World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines, on the eve of his megabout with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2.

However, Mayweather said in a statement that he "did not commit any violations" and he was fully supported by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) earlier on Thursday.

"As already confirmed by the USADA statement, I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines," said Mayweather, who beat Pacquiao on a unanimous decision to improve his perfect record to 48-0.

"I follow and have always followed the rules of Nevada and USADA, the gold standard of drug testing.

"Let's not forget that I was the one six years ago who insisted on elevating the level of drug testing for all my fights. As a result, there is more drug testing and awareness of its importance in the sport of boxing today than ever before."

According to the SB Nation report, USADA collection agents visited Mayweather's house in Las Vegas the night before his May 2 fight to conduct an unannounced drug test and discovered that he had been given an IV for rehydration purposes.

LATE EXEMPTION FROM USADA

While the substances in the IV were not banned by WADA, the fact that they were given intravenously was not permitted, the report said, and Mayweather was only given a retroactive therapeutic use exemption (TUE) by USADA 19 days later.

"We believe it is important to immediately correct the record regarding the false suggestion that Floyd Mayweather violated the rules by receiving an IV infusion of saline and vitamins," USADA said in a statement on Thursday.

"As was already publicly reported in May of this year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), Mr. Mayweather applied for and was granted a TUE by USADA for an IV infusion of saline and vitamins that was administered prior to his May 2 fight.

"Mr. Mayweather's use of the IV was not prohibited under the NSAC rules at that time and would not be a violation of the NSAC rules today."

According to USADA, both the NSAC and Team Pacquiao were notified about the TUE after it was granted, "even though the practice is not prohibited under NSAC rules".

For the NSAC, the main issue here is creating a closer working relationship with USADA.

"In the state of Nevada, we are the only entity that is allowed to approve therapeutic use exemptions for any and all combatants," NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told Reuters.

"It's incumbent upon USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission to work hand in glove in an effort to combat performance-enhancing drugs in boxing, mixed martial arts, etc.

"Once we can have a better understanding of what USADA's position is on TUEs and ours, this media controversy will end. It adds no negative narrative on Floyd whatsoever. He has set the standard for all fighters (in combatting doping)."

Mayweather will put his unbeaten record on the line when he defends his WBC and WBA welterweight titles against fellow American Berto in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday. (Editing by Andrew Both)

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