Maria Sharapova, following the reduction of her two-year doping ban to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), did the media rounds.
And she did not hold back on her thoughts regarding the conduct of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
It was an ITF-appointed tribunal which in June slapped the former world No.1 with the two-year ban, which CAS cut back on Tuesday.
“I got a 24-month suspension, but they (the ITF) wanted four years for me,” Sharapova told American broadcaster PBS.
“I went through the ITF hearing, which was in front of an arbitration (panel) which was chosen by the ITF.
“I am at a hearing (in London) knowing the people I am speaking to were chosen by the people that I am actually in a fight with.
“They call that neutral? That is not neutral. CAS is neutral and this is what CAS has awarded to me.
“I never wanted to believe that (the ITF were trying to make an example of me), but I am starting to think that.”
Sharapova also told a group of media, as reported in the New York Times, of her incredulity during June’s ITF tribunal hearing.
“I spent four days total in hearings listening to the head of the ITF anti-doping, Stuart Miller, giving two testimonies. I’m sitting there just shaking my head on how so many athletes and tennis players are in the hands of someone in his position. I really couldn’t believe it,” she said.
“I was really shocked how little knowledge someone like him had, in his position. When he spoke about meldonium, he didn’t know anything about it. It didn’t strike him that it was so common that maybe more notice was appropriate for Eastern European athletes.”
The ITF responded to Sharapova’s comments in a statement.
“The ITF did not ‘try to ban Ms Sharapova for four years’. The ITF took the position that it is the independent tribunal’s responsibility to determine what the appropriate sanction should be,” it said.
“This included the decision as to whether Ms Sharapova met the requirements set out in the tennis anti-doping program – which are the same as those in the WADA code – for a reduction from the default four-year suspension for the use of a non-specified substance such as meldonium.
“The members of the independent tribunal, which consisted of a barrister as chairman and medical and scientific experts as co-members, are appointed by the ITF.
“However, Ms Sharapova’s legal team was given the opportunity to object to any member of that tribunal, and they agreed in writing that they had no such objection.”
Sharapova is eligible to return to competitive tennis in late April 2017.
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