Kremlin: Sharapova failed drug test does not mirror Russian sports

The Kremlin's spokesman said on Wednesday that a failed drug test by Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova should not be "projected onto" the whole of Russian sport.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman, added on a conference call with journalists that Russia was against attempts to politicise sporting matters.

"Of course the Kremlin knows (about the case), the sports ministry gives us information," Kremlin press spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

"We regret this, but at the same time this situation should not be projected onto the whole of Russian sport.

"The situation should not be presented in such a way that it somehow throws a shadow onto Russian sport, on the magnificent achievements of our athletes."

"We're talking about individual athletes, individual cases."

Sharapova confessed on Monday that she had tested positive for Meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking since 2006 but that was only added to the banned list this year by the

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The former world number one said a change in the WADA's banned list for 2016 led to an inadvertent violation, for which she will be "provisionally suspended" by the International Tennis Federation.

Image: Russia's Maria Sharapova reacts during a news conference

Photograph: John French/Reuters