Sponsors Cut Ties With Sharapova -- Update

By Sarah Sloat

FRANKFURT--Luxury brands Porsche AG and TAG Heuer on Tuesday became the latest sponsors to distance themselves from Maria Sharapova, a day after the tennis star said she failed a drug test at this year's Australian Open.

Both Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer and German sports car maker Porsche said they were suspending their marketing relationships with the Russian tennis player. They follow Nike Inc., which said on Monday it was putting its relationship with Ms. Sharapova on hold pending results of her case.

Ms. Sharapova on Monday said she failed the drug test for a medication she had been taking for 10 years that was recently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"We've suspended all events and activities with Ms. Sharapova for the time being," a spokesman for Porsche said. The car maker stopped short of cutting ties definitively, saying it would await the outcome of the case.

Ms. Sharapova, a brand ambassador for Porsche since 2013, had been scheduled to appear at the Porsche Grand Prix tennis event in Stuttgart, Germany in April.

The tennis player had also been under contract with TAG Heuer until the end of last year, a spokesman for the Swiss company said.

"We had been in talks to extend our collaboration. In view of the current situation, the Swiss watch brand has suspended negotiations," the spokesman said.

The drug Ms. Sharapova had been taking, meldonium, was added to the banned list in September, and went into effect on Jan. 1. Ms. Sharapova said she was notified via email in December that WADA's antidoping policies had been updated, but didn't check to see what new substances were included. She took full responsibility for having the drug in her system and apologized for letting down her fans and the sport.

"I made a huge mistake," she said during a brief news conference in Los Angeles on Monday. "I don't want to end my career this way and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game."

Nike is especially sensitive to doping allegations of its sponsored athletes, said Brian Socolow, an attorney at Loeb & Loeb in New York specializing in sports law.

He pointed to the sportswear maker's experience as a sponsor of Lance Armstrong, who in 2013 admitted to having used performance-enhancing drugs in Tour de France competitions.

"It is not a surprise that Nike dropped her," said Mr. Socolow. But Ms. Sharapova's initial response to the situation was positive, he said, and she may yet redeem her image.

"She will have to demonstrate that it was an honest mistake and there are no other improper reasons she took the drug," he said.

The International Tennis Federation said in a statement that Ms. Sharapova would be provisionally suspended from competition on March 12, pending a full determination of her case.

Brian Blackstone, Tom Perrotta and Sara Germano contributed to this article.

Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 08, 2016 11:24 ET (16:24 GMT)

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