Shocking news broke Wednesday when the ITF tribunal condemned tennis pro Maria Sharapova to a two-year suspension for doping. Interestingly enough, the tribunal concluded that Sharapova did not intentionally use the drug meldonium, which makes one wonder how they came to conclude a two-year ban was necessary.
Indeed, Sharapova wonders the same thing.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Sharapova expressed dismay at the ruling and said she “cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension.”
She said she will “immediately appeal the suspension portion of the ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Here is a look at the entire post.
#MariaSharapova not going to take this 2-year ban laying down. pic.twitter.com/mbyeK8bLGh
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) June 8, 2016
It is a rather harsh penalty, considering every single member of the tribunal concluded Sharapova’s faux pas was unintentional.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out down the road. For now, it appears the punishment does not exactly fit the crime.