WE GO AGAIN
KEVIN McCALLUM: Ignorance is a lax defence for dopers who draw crowds
Support for Sharapova after her doping ban is off the mark. Her return should not be easy
According to her agents, Maria Sharapova did not serve a 15-month suspension from tennis for taking a banned substance. They will, as Marina Hyde of The Guardian so rightly pointed out, say it was that "type of year". Well, a little more than a year. Sharapova, they say, has been incredible in how she dealt with the stress of being banned. Sharapova, they say, is a woman of integrity. Sharapova, they say, has dealt with the "situation" honourably. What they don’t say is that Sharapova took a banned substance and she took it for a long time. So it was left to the president of the French Tennis Federation, Bernard Giudicelli, to say it another way by denying her a wildcard to the French Open. "There can be a wildcard for the return from injuries; there cannot be a wildcard for the return from doping. I’m very sorry for Maria, very sorry for her fans. They might be very disappointed, she might be very disappointed, but it’s my responsibility, my mission, to protect the high standards o...
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