Very good convo about it and I like the wine reference and I think they're right, in saying that the tennis bubble has burst and its now caught up with the rest of the sports being tested more and more for drugs.
It would seem the Russians are bang at it and have been at it for decades and are always just 1 step ahead of WADA as this drug was on the watch list last year, so it was just a matter of time.
Very interesting debate, and I love their view that "only the idiots will believe it and there's plenty of them out there"
thanks for that, I agree with them that she has totally exposed herself and set herself up for a huge fall.
Great link :thup:
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Blue in Munich
Crocked Professional Yeti Impersonator
Indeed. I liked the bit that suggests the entire Soviet army in Afghanistan was on this stuff to help them run up hills……
He doesn't mince his words in his opinion of her. Not good listening for the faint hearted or anyone who thinks she is innocent.Indeed. I liked the bit that suggests the entire Soviet army in Afghanistan was on this stuff to help them run up hills……
Plenty of back & front pages obviously reporting on it and digging new angles out of which I haven't seen any in support of her or feeling sorry for her [error] in judgement and 1 paper is reporting she was warned 5 times about the drug the month prior informing her that it was now on the banned list!
Coming more and more across to me she thought she was the bigger person and believed she had a story always ready to justify taking it, sounds like something an addict would try to spin out not a professional tennis player, or are both the same in this instance 🤔
Lots more meat on the bone in this to come 😜
chrisd
Major Champion
Great conversation which pretty much sums up my views on the matter.
Del_Boy
Head Pro
Did she have ample warning? I thought she had an email in 22 Dec advising that the following list of drugs are banned from 1 Jan which she failed to read.
PhilTheFragger
Provider of Entertainment for the Golfing Gods 🙄
LP I honestly don't understand how you can say this, all the evidence I have seen suggests that this drug is normally prescribed for very specific medical issues and only for a very short length of time. The drug is not available in the US and indeed other drugs have superceeded this one.
So why would she possibly take this drug for so long? If she had a medical condition then I am sure the LTA would be aware and enough time has passed since the test result for Sharapova to show the LTA her medical records and they would have been quick to give a medical exemption, given her status in the game.
Why are so many other Russian/ ex soviet block athletes taking the same drug compared to the rest of the world?
The only explanation is that it's performance enhancing properties were picked up and cynically exploited over a number of years, to suggest that she wasn't taking it for its performance enhancing properties is bonkers.
The fact that WADA have only just got their backsides in gear is deplorable, this should have been on the banned list years ago.
Judge Judy would say that you have lost the argument so maybe it's time to park the JCB and stop digging
Slab
Occasional Tour Caddy
I read on BBC that the new list was first issued to all players on 22nd of September last year
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
JCB ? Ah so that's what that comment was about earlier in the thread - I see
I didn't release it was a win/lose situation and it was people offering an opinion and as Rich said people being able to respect that people can have a different opinion.
I currently choose to believe her - that's my right - at the moment it doesn't make me wrong it's just my opinion.
She says it was prescribed by her doctor for health issues - some may not believe that some may do - right now I believe her
Currently the drug is also not banned in golf
http://www.golfchannel.com/news/gol...sharapova-case-not-yet-banned-pga-tour-030816
freddielong
Tour Winner
It may not have been designed to enhance athletic performance, but that is what it does. She doesn't have a condition that requires the prescription of this drug so there is only one reason she has been taking it.
It may not have been illegal until this year but she has effectively been cheating for the last 10 years and done rather well out of it, I have no sympathy for her what so ever and hope they ban her long enough to effectively end her career.
It may not have been illegal until this year but she has effectively been cheating for the last 10 years and done rather well out of it, I have no sympathy for her what so ever and hope they ban her long enough to effectively end her career.
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
She has not been cheating for ten years.
Good post 👍
It's obvious to nearly everyone she only kept taking this due to its performance enhancing properties, which were wildly used in the Russian forces and there athletes, and it's becoming obvious and known it was publicly being looked into and was on the watch list for a couple of years which everyone is also informed about, but hey, she always had a story lined up that she believed would be ok, but personally I think it's going to bury her. A bit like an addict justifying their need🤔
I have a dumper truck to hire if the JCB's are all out to carry around the BS being piled up.
Typical stubborn blinkered post when everything is stacking up against her 😂
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
What happened before Jan 1st is largely irrelevant as the drug wasn't banned.
Ethically, itmmay be suspect that she's used this drug for longer than usual but, if it's not banned, if she can live with what she's done thennthats the end of it until such a time as the drug is banned.
Just say that Tiger used a substance for years that, potentially, enhanced his performance but it was not banned. He wouldn't have been cheating, playing the system - absolutely, but not cheating.
Once that drug becomes banned, that's when it all kicks off.
Cheating is deliberately breaking the rules.
Is everyone who breaks a rule in Golf cheating..? If they're doing it deliberately then yes they are..if it's an unintentional break then No
Sharapova can only be accused of cheating since 1st Jan this year. Has she broken the rules? Yes. Deliberately..? Time will tell.
She cannot have been cheating up until 31st December...
As per usual with high profile people there is an air of Guilty till proven Innocent.
We don't know all the facts, we may never know them.
But "Cheat" is a strong word. Hey, if it's proven that she knew what the score was and deliberately took this stuff to break the rules then I'll be in the line calling her a Cheat. Until then, she's innocent until proven guilty.
We should know by mid May.
And WADA need to keep an eye on what's going on...if this drug has been known for 10 years that it enhances performance then WADA should be on trial too.
Ethically, itmmay be suspect that she's used this drug for longer than usual but, if it's not banned, if she can live with what she's done thennthats the end of it until such a time as the drug is banned.
Just say that Tiger used a substance for years that, potentially, enhanced his performance but it was not banned. He wouldn't have been cheating, playing the system - absolutely, but not cheating.
Once that drug becomes banned, that's when it all kicks off.
Cheating is deliberately breaking the rules.
Is everyone who breaks a rule in Golf cheating..? If they're doing it deliberately then yes they are..if it's an unintentional break then No
Sharapova can only be accused of cheating since 1st Jan this year. Has she broken the rules? Yes. Deliberately..? Time will tell.
She cannot have been cheating up until 31st December...
As per usual with high profile people there is an air of Guilty till proven Innocent.
We don't know all the facts, we may never know them.
But "Cheat" is a strong word. Hey, if it's proven that she knew what the score was and deliberately took this stuff to break the rules then I'll be in the line calling her a Cheat. Until then, she's innocent until proven guilty.
We should know by mid May.
And WADA need to keep an eye on what's going on...if this drug has been known for 10 years that it enhances performance then WADA should be on trial too.
chrisd
Major Champion
She lives in the USA and the drug is NOT approved there, why did her doctor give her a drug that was not licensed?
Kellfire
Blackballed
If I take a multi-vitamin to enhance my dietary intake, am I taking a performance enhancing drug worthy of a ban from sport simply because I am giving my body a boost artificially rather than naturally aka eating the food that would provide the same amount of vitamins?
Course I'm not.
Fair enough if you don't believe Sharapova's reasoning for taking the drug, it's incredibly suspect, but she has not been cheating for ten years by any extreme stretch of the definition for taking meldonium. That is beyond any argument. The reason it's beyond argument is because there are clearly defined rules and a list of banned substances.
That is what defines a cheat in this instance, not the morals of some amateur golfers.
Course I'm not.
Fair enough if you don't believe Sharapova's reasoning for taking the drug, it's incredibly suspect, but she has not been cheating for ten years by any extreme stretch of the definition for taking meldonium. That is beyond any argument. The reason it's beyond argument is because there are clearly defined rules and a list of banned substances.
That is what defines a cheat in this instance, not the morals of some amateur golfers.
Reckless beyond description is how Dick Pound the former WADA president which sums Sharapova's actions in a nutshell. Still feel she must have known or her team known of the PED benefits of taking it or she would have switched to a more modern and better acting alternative for her "condition"
From BBC Sport website
Pound, who was head of Wada from 1999 to 2007, said Sharapova had made a "big mistake" and "should have known" the consequences of continuing to take it.
"Anytime there is a change to the list, notice is given on 30 September prior to the change," he said.
"You have October, November, December to get off what you are doing.
"All the tennis players were given notification of it and she has a medical team somewhere. That is reckless beyond description."
This possibly emerged as early as September and yet she kept taking it so the initial story of not opening mails in December would seem bogus.
It also says
Pound said it was eventually added to the banned list because a lot of people began taking it for performance-enhancing reasons.
He added that most of the drugs of choice for dopers were "built for therapeutic reasons", like EPO, but that they all had side-effects that could be put to use by those seeking to gain an advantage over their rivals.
Grindeks, the Latvian company that manufactures meldonium, said a typical course of treatment should only run to a few weeks.
"Depending on the patient's health condition, treatment course of meldonium preparations may vary from four to six weeks," its statement read.
From BBC Sport website
Pound, who was head of Wada from 1999 to 2007, said Sharapova had made a "big mistake" and "should have known" the consequences of continuing to take it.
"Anytime there is a change to the list, notice is given on 30 September prior to the change," he said.
"You have October, November, December to get off what you are doing.
"All the tennis players were given notification of it and she has a medical team somewhere. That is reckless beyond description."
This possibly emerged as early as September and yet she kept taking it so the initial story of not opening mails in December would seem bogus.
It also says
Pound said it was eventually added to the banned list because a lot of people began taking it for performance-enhancing reasons.
He added that most of the drugs of choice for dopers were "built for therapeutic reasons", like EPO, but that they all had side-effects that could be put to use by those seeking to gain an advantage over their rivals.
Grindeks, the Latvian company that manufactures meldonium, said a typical course of treatment should only run to a few weeks.
"Depending on the patient's health condition, treatment course of meldonium preparations may vary from four to six weeks," its statement read.
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
Very good post :thup:
Just to clarify a couple of points. Maria knew her medication by another name, which is why she may not have realised that it had added to the banned substances list. Nike have only suspended their contract with her pending an investigation, but haven't completely terminated it as yet.
D
Deleted member 15344
Guest
Another good post - especially in regards WADA
Would also question why it isn't banned in all sports?
chrisd
Major Champion
I posted a very hypothetical question yesterday which went unanswered
If Usain Bolt was offered a drug cocktail that was undetectable and not on the current banned list and could be guaranteed to knock 3 seconds off his best time for the 100m - would you say that it was perfectly OK to take it?
If Usain Bolt was offered a drug cocktail that was undetectable and not on the current banned list and could be guaranteed to knock 3 seconds off his best time for the 100m - would you say that it was perfectly OK to take it?
