Maria Sharapova has been suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation for testing positive for meldonium at the Australian Open.
The ruling, announced Wednesday, can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The five-time Grand Slam champion was provisionally suspended by the ITF in early March, when she announced at a news conference in Los Angeles that she failed a doping test in January.
Sharapova said then she was not aware that the World Anti-Doping Agency had barred athletes from using meldonium, also known as mildronate, as of January 1.
Sharapova said she first was prescribed the Latvian-made drug, typically used for heart conditions, for medical reasons in 2006.
Sharapova to appeal two-year doping ban
Maria Sharapova said on Wednesday she will appeal the two-year doping ban handed down to her by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for doping and which threatens to end her career.
The 29-year-old tested positive for the controversial banned medication meldonium during January's Australian Open.
"While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension," Sharapova wrote on her Facebook page.
"The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
Factfile on Maria Sharapova, who was banned for two years on Wednesday for doping:
Name: Maria Sharapova
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USA
Date of Birth: April 19, 1987
Birthplace: Nyagan, Russia
Height: 6' 2" (1.88m)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Status: Pro (April 19, 2001)
Career earnings: $36,766,149
Career details:
WTA Singles Titles: 35
Grand Slam titles: Australian Open (2008); French Open (2012, 2014); Wimbledon (2004); US Open (2006)
WTA Championships titles: 2004
Fed Cup: 2008
Olympics : Silver medal, London 2012
Win/Loss: Singles 601/145
Coaches: Yuri Sharapov (errly career); Michael Joyce (2008–10), Thomas Hogstedt (2010–13), Jimmy Connors (2013), Sven Groeneveld (2013–present)
Key dates
2001 - Played first event of career at Sarasota
2002 - Played first two WTA main draws, reaching second round at Indian Wells where she lost to Monic Seles
2003 - First top 50 season; won first two WTA titles at Japan Open and Quebec City
2004 - First top five season (finishing four) and won first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, at just 17 and the third youngest woman to achieve the feat.
2005 - Became world number one for first time and ended season at four; won three WTA titles
2006 - Ends season as world number two after winning second Grand Slam title at US Open
2007 - Top five again but withdrew from five events with right shoulder injury
2008 - Third Grand Slam title at Australian Open but another right shoulder injury forced her to sit out rest of the year from Montreal onwards. Injury meant no US Open or Beijing Olympics
2009 - Missed January-April and ranking slumped at one stage to 136. Was back at 14 by end of year where she won just one trophy.
2010 - Finished 18 in the world, with two more titles
2011 - Top five finish with titles in Rome and Cincinnati. Also runner-up at Wimbledon
2012 - Becomes sixth woman to complete career Grand Slam with victory at the French Open and returns to world number one.
2013 - Runner-up at French Open, losing again to old rival Serena Williams. Another right shoulder injury forces her to call time on the season after Cincinnati, missing US Open and WTA Championhips as a result.
2014 - Equal-best season, finishes number two and claims a second French Open.
2015 - Another top five season but played just one match in four months between July and October. Missed the US Open once again, this time with right leg injury.
2016
Jan 26 - Loses to Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals, her 17th successive defeat to the American since 2004.
March 7 - Calls press conference at a Los Angeles hotel to reveal she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open, testing positive for banned substance meldonium.
June 8 - Banned for two years
