TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Nike 'will continue to partner' with Sharapova despite ban
Change Size
In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 file photo, Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts after losing a point to Serena Williams of the United States during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia. Sharapova has been suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation for testing positive for meldonium at the Australian Open. The ruling, announced Wednesday, June 8, 2016 can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
N
ike says it "will continue to partner" with Maria Sharapova, despite her two-year suspension for failing a drug test.
The sportswear giant said in a statement Wednesday: "We hope to see Maria back on court."
Sharapova was punished by a three-person Tennis Anti-Doping Program tribunal appointed by the International Tennis Federation, which concluded she took meldonium "for the purpose of enhancing her performance." She had been taking it since 2006.
Meldonium was banned as of Jan. 1. Sharapova tested positive at the Australian Open on Jan. 26, and said later she didn't know the substance was newly banned.
In March, when Sharapova announced she failed a drug test, Nike said it had "decided to suspend our relationship with Maria while the investigation continues" but that it would "monitor the situation."
