Last night, the five-time Grand Slam champion revealed at a press conference in Los Angeles that she had tested positive for meldonium, which became a banned substance on January 1. The Russian said she has been taking the drug for a decade on health grounds.
Within hours, Nike announced they had suspended its ties with Sharapova, who they have an eight-year £50million deal with while watch maker TagHeuer announced this morning it had ended talks over a new contract with the 28-year-old.
Sharapova is the highest earning woman in sport, banking £16.1m last year from endorsements alone, and it remains to be seen if her other backers Evian, Porsche, Avon, Head and Tiffany stand by her.
Leading sports marketing expert Nigel Currie believes Sharapova is facing the heaviest loss of earnings by any sportsperson.
“If Maria does get a four-year ban then that probably is it for her as a top tennis player and we are talking about potential losses of £100m,” said Currie. “Her player earnings pale into insignificance compared to her off‑court endorsement and she has been the highest paid sportswoman for 11 years and is a marketing dream.
“She has all the attributes and there are not that many female sports stars who are instantly recognised all over the world.
“Maria has blue-chip sponsors with huge contracts and they will all be looking at this situation very seriously.
"In the old days, sponsors were happy to just keep their heads down and not react — just wait for the dust to settle.
"Now, in this corporately responsible world, all these brands have to protect their image.
"They are paranoid about this and will want to get out of these deals whenever there is a sniff of a scandal.
"It is a huge decision by Nike because it is was $70m over eight years and it is still running and so it would be worth even more today.
“All the top brands latched onto her and she has done very well out of the deals and that is why there is an awful lot riding on this decision by the tennis authorities.”
Revelations of state-backed doping in athletics and corruption among top officials have led to the sport losing some of their sponsors.
Currie added: “This is a bigger story than Adidas and Nestle pulling out of their athletics deals. It is a huge decision for Nike because there will be thousands of branded items of clothing as part of the deal.”
Sharapova has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation pending a hearing by an independent tribunal.
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The maximum ban is four years but Sharapova’s supporters hope her previous clean record will reduce any suspension to around 12 months.
The world No7 revealed she failed the test at the Australian Open and had begun taking meldonium in 2006 for several health issues including a magnesium deficiency and irregular heart test results.
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