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Boxing

11th Mar 2016

Carl Frampton pulls no punches with how he thinks Maria Sharapova should be punished

Zero tolerance policy

Darragh Murphy

Carl Frampton could well get a gig with WADA after he hangs up his gloves.

The IBF and WBA super-bantamweight champion has the strictest policy when it comes to dealing with athletes who fail drug tests.

Drug testing has been a hot topic this week after Maria Sharapova revealed on Monday that she tested positive for meldonium at the start of the year.

Sharapova is basing her defence on the fact that she had been taking meldonium to treat a health condition for a decade before it had been added to WADA’s banned substance list in January.

Maria Sharapova Announces She Failed Doping Test

But Belfast’s Frampton doesn’t have time for such excuses and he believes that we shouldn’t feel sympathy for anybody who fails a drug test, recommending the harshest penalty for those who do.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Frampton said. “We need to be very stringent and strict with ourselves and to make mistakes, especially at the highest level, I don’t know, I don’t agree with it.

Carl Frampton celebrates 27/02/2016

“Coming from a sport that I am in – where people can potentially lose their lives – I look at drug taking as a complete no-no.

“And if you fail a drug test – especially in my sport – you should be banned for life.”

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