Maria Sharapova has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision issued by the Tribunal appointed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on 6 June 2016.

In her appeal to the CAS, Ms Sharapova seeks the annulment of the Tribunal’s decision to sanction her with a two-year period of ineligibility further to an anti-doping rule violation. Ms Sharapova submits that the period of ineligibility should be eliminated, or in the alternative, reduced.

The parties have agreed to an expedited procedure which will allow the CAS to render a decision, at the latest, on 18 July 2016. The final decision will be announced and published by CAS when it is available.

It has not been decided whether or not a hearing would be held in this matter. In any event, at the request of the parties, this arbitration procedure will be kept confidential and the CAS will not comment any further on this matter.

• This media release was originally published by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 14 June 2016. To access the original, please click here.