Mara Sharapova’s agent blamed his divorce and a canceled Caribbean vacation for not telling Sharapova the drug she was taking was banned

Here’s the language from the report:

In his second witness statement signed on 11 May he stated that he had assumed the responsibility to check Ms Sharapova’s medications and supplements against the WADA Prohibited List, after the player had left Dr. Skalny’s care in 2013. His explanation as to why he failed to discharge his responsibility is as follows. In November 2013 and 2014 he printed out a copy of the Prohibited List for the forthcoming year to take it with him on his vacation in the Caribbean so that it could be checked. In 2015 he separated from his wife, did not take his annual vacation in the Caribbean and due to the issues in his personal life failed to review the 2016 Prohibited List.

And here is how Eisenbud explained it in his own words (emphasis ours):

“My system … in November of every year I would go on vacation in the Caribbean, after the championships. I would have my assistant print out the most updated doping prohibited list, along with the new proposed WTA and ATP rules, the calendar for next year. I would make a file. I would go on vacation and sit at the pool, with all the substances that my players were taking, and then sit there and just cross-check, to make sure that everybody, what they were doing, was not prohibited. In 2015 I didn’t go on vacation for obvious reasons.”

This reasoning only leaves us with more questions than answers. Namely, why would Eisenbud only read WADA’s Prohibited List while poolside, on vacation in the Caribbean?

Nevertheless, Eisenbud’s reasoning – again, that his divorce, and a canceled trip to the Caribbean, ultimately led to Sharapova’s failed drug test – is among the best displays of loyalty to a client we’ve ever seen in sports.