Maria Sharapova: We’ve been monitoring meldonium and it is a problem for us, says Wada president Craig Reedie

'It’s a big concern because it’s clear that people are abusing the drug'

Maria Sharapova has had her contract with Nike suspended after admitting to a failed drug test (Getty Images)

Like everyone else the Maria Sharapova news came as a huge shock to me. It’s always a shame when a high-profile athlete admits to making a mistake of this magnitude, and breaking the rules.

The drug in question, Meldonium, is manufactured in Eastern Europe and most of the positive cases have come from that part of the world.

For the World Anti-Doping Agency [Wada] it’s a big concern because it’s clear that people are abusing the drug and it is one that was being monitored by us last year.

It was officially put on the banned list at the start of this year with more than sufficient notice to all the relevant bodies on the basis that the evidence suggests it is performance-enhancing.

With Sharapova and the size of the entourage she has around her, you would have to say there must be some people in that camp very embarrassed that this has happened.

But this is a wider issue than just one tennis player. We’ve seen reports coming from Ethiopia about that particular drug’s misuse as well. The assumption is that someone from Eastern Europe is moving it there and that’s clearly a subject for further discussion and investigation.

It’s early stages but what has become apparent is the authorities in Ethiopia are taking action and one only hopes this is just a small pocket of a problem and not part of a wider malaise. The hope is this is not some sort of doping epidemic.

The spotlight is already focused on Ethiopia’s East African neighbours Kenya, who have been given until 5 April to ensure that they are compliant with the Wada code.

I sincerely hope that is the case and the government there has tried to reassure us that everything is being put in place to ensure that this is really the case.

But they need to guarantee there is a proper anti-doping organisation in place to ensure that their athletes are properly tested in Kenya.

Russian track and field athletes are currently banned from global competition and the question still remains over their Olympic inclusion having read the full transcript from Sunday’s latest ARD documentary.

It’s abundantly clear from that particular documentary there are still weaknesses in the Russian anti-doping system, which is concerning as we’ve been working on a daily basis with Rusada.

So this kind of thing is concerning and unhelpful to us and the IAAF as its council prepares to meet in Monaco for an update on the Russian situation.

The main segments of concern are a banned Russian coach still apparently working 600 kilometres away from Moscow and allegations against a leading official at Rusada, who supposedly warned athletes about doping tests, which was some time ago but obviously makes for disconcerting reading.

I am confident the IAAF has the right man in Rune Andersen heading up their investigation into Russia. He used to work with Wada and is a senior consultant with anti-doping in Norway, the home of one of the world’s leading anti-doping organisations.

The news from the past few days with regards to Sharapova and the situation in Ethiopia has probably led to a little bit of a rewrite of my speech at the Tackling Doping in Sport conference in London from today.

What’s happened since the initial ARD documentary in December 2014 has been very unsettling for global sport. But it is much better for this to be out there in the public domain and to deal with it.

At Wada our message is that we will work every night and day to ensure cleaner sport.