Doping-WADA makes meldonium U-turn, could affect Sharapova ban (Reuters)
(Adds WADA comment, details, background) By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) – Athletes who tested positive for meldonium before March 1 could have bans overturned less than four months before the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after WADA said it was unable to establish how quickly the drug, outlawed since Jan. 1, cleared the human body. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s notice to national anti-doping bodies is expected to have a major impact on many of the 172 athletes who have tested positive for the performance-boosting drug since January. Sharapova’s lawyer John Haggerty said on Wednesday that WADA handled the issue “poorly” and was now trying to make up for it.