Russia’s Maria Sharapova was suspended from tennis for two years for testing positive for a banned substance at the Australian open. All along we were treating women’s tennis with clean image. But this particular incident and the subsequent suspension tell the tale that women are not angels as we think. The five time Grand Slam Champion was provisionally suspended by the ITF when the news came out of her mouth that she has failed a doping a test. For her defence, the ITF contented that Sharapova did not intend to cheat because she did not know the substance was banned, but she bore sole responsibility for a significant fault. The suspension is a lesson for other tennis players to learn a lesson or two to lead a sporting career.
Chitra Krishnan
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
