Varvara Lepchenko cleared of blame following positive Meldonium tests

20 September 2016 07:23

The International Tennis Federation has announced American player Varvara Lepchenko has been cleared of blame after failing four doping tests for Meldonium.

The ITF accepted that the 30-year-old, who is ranked 79th in the world, had stopped taking the drug prior to it being added to the banned list at the start of 2016.

Lepchenko is one of a significant number of athletes across different sports to have been found to have borne no fault following positive tests for Meldonium.

The American, who is originally from Uzbekistan, failed four tests between January 7 and April 7 and accepted a provisional suspension on March 12.

But she successfully applied to have that lifted following a notice from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) indicating that Meldonium, a cardiac drug that increases blood flow, stayed in the body a lot longer than had been thought.

Lepchenko returned to action in Rome in May having not played since February but refused to confirm or deny she had served a suspension during a tense press conference at the French Open.

The ITF has now changed its rules and any provisional suspension served by a player will be made public regardless of whether they are eventually found to have committed an offence.

Tuesday's ITF statement read: "WADA published a second Meldonium notice on June 30 2016, on the basis of which WADA advised the ITF that the concentrations found in Lepchenko's samples are consistent with her account of pre-January 1 2016 use.

"Accordingly, it was accepted by the ITF that Lepchenko bore no fault or negligence for the violation, and that any period of ineligibility that may otherwise have been imposed is eliminated entirely."

Maria Sharapova, the most high profile of the Meldonium cases, is due to find out early next month whether the Court of Arbitration for Sport will reduce the two-year ban she was given in June following a positive test at the Australian Open.

Source: PA