Sports tribunal reduces Sharapova doping ban by nine months

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday reduced by nine months former world number one tennis player Maria Sharapova's two-year doping ban.

 

An arbitration panel "found that Ms Sharapova committed an anti-doping rule violation and that while it was with 'no significant fault', she bore some degree of fault, for which a sanction of fifteen months is appropriate," Switzerland-based CAS said in a statement. The ban took effect from Jan. 26, 2016.

 

Five-times grand slam winner Sharapova was banned by the International Tennis Federation in June following a positive test for the banned drug meldonium during January's Australian Open.