Sharapova cautioned at least 5 times about Meldonium

Letters from two global tennis bodies had warned her in advance about the impending ban on the drug she'd been taking since 2006

Russian tennis star, Maria Sharapova, had been cautioned about the impeding inclusion of meldonium in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)'s list of banned drugs on at least five occasions before the ban was actually implemented.

The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that the International Tennis Federation had sent the tenns player three letters informing her about WADA's decision to implement the ban from January 1 this year. Sharapova also received two letters on the same issue from the Women's Tennis Association.

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

Meanwhile, the Kremlin insisted that Sharapova's case was an isolated one even as it expressed regret over the discovery. A spokesperson of the agency insisted that the incident did not reflect Russian sports as a whole and should not be used to tarnish the image of Russian sportspersons in general

Sharapova claimed she began taking Meldonium to address a number of health  issues, such as being prone to illness, heart condition and a family history of diabetes.