Maria Sharapova has said that she will launch an immediate appeal against the two-year suspension that she has received for failing a drugs test.
In March, Sharapova announced that she had tested positive for meldonium - a substance which was added to the banned list at the start of 2016 - at the Australian Open, a tournament in which she reached the quarter-final stage.
After an independent tribunal was held, the five-time major champion was banned until January 26, 2018, but the Russian has released a statement saying that she will contest the decision.
It read: "Today with their decision of a two year suspension, the ITF tribunal unanimously concluded that what I did was not intentional.
"The tribunal found that I did not seek treatment from my doctor for the purpose of obtaining a performance enhancing substance. The ITF spent tremendous amounts of time and resources trying to prove I intentionally violated the anti-doping rules and the tribunal concluded I did not. You need to know that the ITF asked the tribunal to suspend me for four years – the required suspension for an intentional violation -- and the tribunal rejected the ITF's position.
"While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension. The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
Sharapova will be made to forfeit both the prize money and WTA ranking points obtained at the Australian Open should the decision stand.
Darren Plant
