Maria Sharapova's doping ban reduced from 2 years to 15 months

(Image credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

last updated 4 October 2016

The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced Tuesday that it is shaving nine months off of pro tennis player Maria Sharapova's doping ban, putting her back in the game in time for the 2017 French Open. Back in June, the International Tennis Federation decided to ban Sharapova for two years after she tested positive for the recently banned drug meldonium, but now she'll be eligible to return to the sport April 25.

The panel determined on appeal that while Sharapova did commit a rule violation, she bore "no significant fault." Sharapova has said she was prescribed meldonium by a family doctor in 2005 for health reasons, and that she was unaware it had been added to the ITF's banned substances list when she failed a drug test in January. "Taking all of these circumstances into account, the CAS panel determined that, although Ms. Sharapova was at fault, her plea of No Significant Fault or Negligence should be upheld, triggering a discretion to reduce the otherwise applicable two year sanction by up to 50 percent," the ITF said in a statement.

Sharapova said the day she found out her ban was reduced was one of her "happiest days." "In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back," Sharapova said in a statement. "I am counting down the days until I can return to the court."