Swimming: Former world champion Magnini handed 4-year ban

ROME - Retired two times swimming world champion Filippo Magnini was handed a four-year ban by Italy's anti-doping agency on Tuesday along with ex-relay team mate Michele Santucci.

The agency, NADO Italia, announced the penalty in a statement.

Magnini, 36, won 100 meter freestyle golds at the 2005 and 2007 world championships as well as a 4x200 freestyle relay bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He retired last year.

The anti-doping prosecutor had sought an eight-year term for actual or attempted doping in a case linked to nutritionist Guido Porcellini, who was given a 30-year ban in July for anti-doping violations.

Magnini, who has not tested positive and had been a critic of doping, denied the charges and said he would appeal.

"I haven't done anything, this sentence is ridiculous," the Gazzetta dello Sport quoted him as saying. "It's a trial of intentions and I could never have imagined something like this."

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Sharapova handed Madrid Open wildcard

BARCELONA - Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been invited to play at the Madrid Open in May, which takes place less than two weeks after her 15-month doping ban expires, tournament organizers said on Wednesday.

The five-time grand slam winner has been given a wildcard for the event, which begins on May 5.

It is scheduled to be her second comeback tournament after her suspension for doping, with the Russian set to return to action at the Stuttgart Grand Prix in April.

"Sharapova requested an invitation to play... (She) is one of the best players of the last 15 years and also a past winner of our tournament," said event director Manolo Santana.

"In Madrid she always plays well and I'm sure she will come back to the courts highly motivated and hoping to do well."

Following a positive test for the drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, the Russian was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cut the ban by nine months last October, allowing her to return from April 26.

Her case divided opinion in the sport.

The Florida-based Sharapova, who turns 30 on April 19, had called the ITF's original ruling "unfairly harsh" because she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.

Meldonium was only added to the World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances at the start of 2016 after mounting evidence it boosted blood flow and enhanced performance.

CAS cut Sharapova's suspension but said she "bore some degree of fault" by relying on agent Max Eisenbud to check the banned list for changes and failing to ensure he had done so.

(Reporting by Richard Martin; editing by John Stonestreet and Ken Ferris)

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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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High-stakes summit eyes anti-doping overhaul

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND -- After a Russian doping scandal plunged the Olympic movement into one of its worst crises, top figures in world sport meet on Saturday in a bid to overhaul global drug testing.

Relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the body it created to promote clean competition, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), hit historic lows ahead of this summer's Rio Games.

Some IOC leaders accused WADA of reacting too slowly to evidence that Russia was running a massive state-sponsored doping programme and questioned the agency's governance.

WADA countered that it has been left dangerously under-resourced.

Saturday's summit in Lausanne, Switzerland is an effort to turn the page and forge "a more robust, more efficient and more independent worldwide anti-doping system," an IOC statement said.

Olympic chief Thomas Bach will huddle behind closed doors with the head of the world athletics governing body (IAAF) Sebastian Coe, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and WADA president Craig Reedie.

The heads of the Russian, American and Chinese Olympic committees will also be on hand.

Bach will hold a conference call with reporters at 2:30 pm (1230 GMT) to discuss the summit's outcomes, but the prospects for concrete decisions are uncertain.

WHAT DOES THE IOC WANT?

Currently, anti-doping controls are run by individual sports federations, with WADA overseeing global compliance -- essentially trying to ensure that federations follow a broad set of rules.

Bach has said unequivocally that the IOC wants testing to be removed from the federations' hands to do away with a system that is ripe for conflicts of interest.

What that means for WADA's future is not entirely clear.

In October 2015, before the Russia scandal exploded, the IOC floated the idea that global testing could be taken over by an independent body.

It seemed logical to some that a beefed-up WADA could assume responsibility for drug controls across all sports, but months of acrimony and accusations have clouded the situation.

Aside from the Russia doping crisis that saw dozens of its competitors banned from Rio, WADA's integrity took a further hit when hackers seemingly intent on exposing perceived double standards leaked WADA medical records of more than 100 top global athletes.

The hack was carried out by a group calling itself "Fancy Bears", believed to be Russian, and revealed which banned medications major stars were legitimately taking under so-called "therapeutic use exemptions" (TUEs).

WADA's difficulties and its tensions with the IOC fuelled suggestions that a new entity could be created to oversee testing.

Asked about the expectations for Saturday's talks, Bach told AFP that the IOC "will make some constructive proposals", underscoring that Olympic leaders were already looking at overhauling anti-doping measures "well before" the latest crises came to light.

Bach has also backed reforms that would see the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decide on penalties for anyone caught cheating. At present, sanctions are decided by the sports themselves with CAS only hearing appeals.

Bach argues that letting a single court punish dopers in all sports would improve transparency and save money.

- WADA confident -
WADA, established in 1999, is 50 percent funded by the IOC.

But despite simmering tensions with its powerful parent WADA officials have predicted that the agency will remain a strong presence in the intensifying fight for clean sport.

"I do not think that the situation is critical for WADA," its director general Olivier Niggli said last month.

Highlighting the agency's essential role, he stressed it was WADA that commissioned the bombshell report on Russian doping, unveiling perhaps the largest cheating scandal in Olympic history.

That report, led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, is due to be published in full in the coming weeks.

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Sharapova to face meldonium hearing in London

Maria Sharapova will attend an International Tennis Federation anti-doping hearing in London on Wednesday, British media reported, with the Russian facing a possible ban of up to four years for failing a drugs test at the Australian Open.

The five-times grand slam champion stunned the world in March when she said she had returned a positive test for meldonium, a Latvian-made heart medication which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) banned list from Jan. 1.

Sharapova, the world's highest-paid sportswoman, claimed to have been taking meldonium on doctor's orders for 10 years and had failed to note that it had become a banned substance until hearing of her failed test at the first grand slam of the year.

She was provisionally suspended on March 12 pending the hearing.

Hundreds of athletes have tested positive for meldonium this year but WADA admitted last month that their bans might be overturned due to a lack of clear scientific information on how long the drug takes to be excreted from the body.

The drug's manufacturer said traces could remain in the body for several months depending on dosage, duration of treatment and sensitivity of testing methods.

The ITF's anti-doping program calls for a four-year suspension for a failed test but it can be reduced in various circumstances, such as for first-time offences or if the player shows no significant fault or negligence. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)

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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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