The founder of PRO FC in Russia spoke openly about Meldonium/Mildronate, the substance that Maria Sharapova tested positive for at the Australian Open, and whether it should be banned in sports.
Last week, former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova caught the sporting work by surprise when she announced that she had tested positive for Meldonium at this year’s Australian Open. The tennis sensation’s test result kickstarted an avalanche of positive tests for the same substance in Russian athletes from various sports.
The tests results came at such an overwhelming number that the World Anti-Doping Agency announced that there have been 99 positive tests for Meldonium since the substance was banned on January 1, 2016.
Meldonium, a blood flow drug used to medically treat ischemia, has been found to help exercise capacity in patients, as well as in perfectly healthy individuals and athletes. It was developed in Latvia during the Soviet Era and remains one of the country’s largest exports. The drug is readily available in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia and other Ex-Soviet nations.
Meldonium was added to the WADA banned list Jan. 1 after being monitored the previous year. Sharapova tested positive for the substance shortly after the ban was instated. She had been previously using meldonium (under brand name Mildronate) for the past decade to deal with a “deficiency of magnesium and a family history of diabetes.”
Over the past week, other Russian athletes have tested positive for this substance, including ice skater Ekaterina Bobrova, short track champion Semen Yelistratov, volleyball player Alexander Markin and biathlete Eduard Latypov.
While no MMA fighters have tested positive for Meldonium, the founder of Pro FC spoke out against WADA’s ban and explained that it is not a performance enhancer.
“I believe that it is wrong to use Mildronate when there is nothing to worry about,” Maxim Shvets said. “It does not give some over power or something else, this is not a steroid. Athletes take it to support the heart, because the athletes handle very heavy loads, and they need to somehow maintain their body. I believe that a ban on this drug would need at least half a year to warn all athletes. For example, I did not know about it.”
The Meldonium scandal is only the latest in a series of doping scandals related to Russian sports. Widespread state-sponsored doping programs were discovered, as well as blackmail and systematic delays in revealing positive tests. The Russian athletics team remains banned from the Olympic Games in Rio this year.