Sponsors Cut Ties With Sharapova -- Update
08 Marzo 2016 - 5:39PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Sloat
FRANKFURT--Luxury brands Porsche AG and TAG Heuer on Tuesday
became the latest sponsors to distance themselves from Maria
Sharapova, a day after the tennis star said she failed a drug test
at this year's Australian Open.
Both Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer and German sports car maker
Porsche said they were suspending their marketing relationships
with the Russian tennis player. They follow Nike Inc., which said
on Monday it was putting its relationship with Ms. Sharapova on
hold pending results of her case.
Ms. Sharapova on Monday said she failed the drug test for a
medication she had been taking for 10 years that was recently
banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"We've suspended all events and activities with Ms. Sharapova
for the time being," a spokesman for Porsche said. The car maker
stopped short of cutting ties definitively, saying it would await
the outcome of the case.
Ms. Sharapova, a brand ambassador for Porsche since 2013, had
been scheduled to appear at the Porsche Grand Prix tennis event in
Stuttgart, Germany in April.
The tennis player had also been under contract with TAG Heuer
until the end of last year, a spokesman for the Swiss company
said.
"We had been in talks to extend our collaboration. In view of
the current situation, the Swiss watch brand has suspended
negotiations," the spokesman said.
The drug Ms. Sharapova had been taking, meldonium, was added to
the banned list in September, and went into effect on Jan. 1. Ms.
Sharapova said she was notified via email in December that WADA's
antidoping policies had been updated, but didn't check to see what
new substances were included. She took full responsibility for
having the drug in her system and apologized for letting down her
fans and the sport.
"I made a huge mistake," she said during a brief news conference
in Los Angeles on Monday. "I don't want to end my career this way
and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this
game."
Nike is especially sensitive to doping allegations of its
sponsored athletes, said Brian Socolow, an attorney at Loeb &
Loeb in New York specializing in sports law.
He pointed to the sportswear maker's experience as a sponsor of
Lance Armstrong, who in 2013 admitted to having used
performance-enhancing drugs in Tour de France competitions.
"It is not a surprise that Nike dropped her," said Mr. Socolow.
But Ms. Sharapova's initial response to the situation was positive,
he said, and she may yet redeem her image.
"She will have to demonstrate that it was an honest mistake and
there are no other improper reasons she took the drug," he
said.
The International Tennis Federation said in a statement that Ms.
Sharapova would be provisionally suspended from competition on
March 12, pending a full determination of her case.
Brian Blackstone, Tom Perrotta and Sara Germano contributed to
this article.
Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 08, 2016 11:24 ET (16:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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