Autocorrect is dangerous: I am waiting for a band named "Bank's Bitter, Balti Pies and Pork Scratchings" Like the ring of it actually ...

Jesting aside, I am really cross about the way the media are treating this. As I understand it, there are no 'revelations' at all from the WADA hacking, certainly on the tennis side. Some athletes have medical conditions. They've needed to take things that are generally banned - which includes a vast array of fairly garden variety medications. They've had an exemption for a specific reason. They've taken the medicine. That's it. Yet on my way into the office today, I saw the back page of a newspaper that said "Williams Sisters in Drug Row" Read the article and it makes it clear that there has been no wrongdoing. But the headline is misleading and unfair and deliberate ... well... click-bait or whatever the equivalent term is for print. And this is a gift to those who want to suggest a world of moral ambiguity, where 'everyone does it, but only the Russians get caught'. No. That's not the case. The newspaper in question, moreover, unlike other more responsible sources, has printed the details of what they took. Why? Why give information that's been hacked from someone's private medical records?

In the case of Venus Williams, it's particularly offensive, given that she has Sjogren's Syndrome. It would be rather stunning if she didn't have take some medications beyond the norm, banned or otherwise.

Will be interesting to see if any of the British grass tournaments offer her a wild card (would obviously be a big draw for Nottingham) , and whether the LTA takes a moral stance and leans on them not too.

I agree with Bob she shouldn't be given a helping hand.

Abolutely a top priority for an athlete - you are responsible for ensuring that what you take is allowable.

So she just leaves that all to her agent and none of the rest of her team even knew she took this. She isn't even getting banned for any of the clear doubt as to why she was taking it at all, but for the terrible dereliction of duty as an athlete resulting her taking a then banned substance.

Still quite amusing that the one defense that subsequently might have had legs, it still being in her system from before the ban, she knocked out from the get go by basically admitting she took it this year by supposed.oversight.

She hadn't been picked on, just all the other athletes didn't come out and hold a press conference basically admitting their guilt of taking a substance banned at the time.

That's what you did, Maria, count yourself lucky that CaS actually says you're not a cheat ( so you don't need to keep saying that you're not ) and indeed from the evidence the original ITF punishment of being effectively the top end ban for accidentally  ( they too never concluded "cheat" ) taking a banned substance seemed fair, given the lack of steps to avoid it happening. If deliberate banned use had been proved the ban would have been much more. Luckily for you you are not banned for all the circumstantial stuff and what many are thinking.

Shut up and serve you're reduced ban.