ITF denies trying to ban Sharapova for four years

Madrid, Oct 7: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has denied that it tried to ban Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova for four years.

After the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which reduced the sanction of the Russian player to 15 months, the ITF on Thursday said that it did not "try to ban Sharapova for four years, as has been suggested", reports Efe.

The ITF said in a statement that "it was the responsibility of the Independent Tribunal - and subsequently the CAS Panel - to determine what the appropriate sanction should be".

The federation defended the independence of the members of that court after Sharapova cast doubt on its neutrality.

"Sharapova's legal team was given the opportunity to object to the appointment of any member of that Tribunal in advance of the hearing, and they agreed in writing that they had no such objection," the note added.