MOSCOW: Russia says Maria Sharapova is still in its plans for the Olympic tennis tournament in August despite her provisional suspension for failing a drug test.

Sharapova has been suspended since last month, when she admitted she tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at January’s Australian Open.

Sharapova said she had been taking meldonium for medical reasons for 10 years and had not seen a World Anti-Doping Agency ruling last year that it would be banned for 2016.

Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpishchev says in a statement “we really hope that Sharapova will still be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games.”

No date has been announced by the International Tennis Federation for a hearing into the case of Sharapova, who won Olympic silver in 2012.

Giorgi risks being left off Italy’s Olympic tennis team

Camila Giorgi risks being left off Italy’s Olympic tennis squad for this year’s Rio de Janeiro Games after severing ties with her national federation.

“The ITF rules say that players must be ‘in good standing’ with their federation to qualify for the games. For me right now Giorgi is not in good standing,” Italian Tennis Federation president Angelo Binaghi said Tuesday.

Last month, the 49th-ranked Giorgi announced in a brief statement that she was cutting relations with the federation and would not play on Italy’s Fed Cup team for this weekend’s World Group playoff against Spain. She will compete in qualifying for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, instead.

Binaghi also said that on Monday he sent a letter to Giorgi’s father and coach, Sergio, seeking 160,000 euros ($180,000) for broken contracts.

On Sunday, the 49th-ranked Giorgi lost in the final of Katowice Open for the third consecutive year. She was beaten 6-4, 6-0 by eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

The federation is likely to open disciplinary proceedings against Giorgi, who trains at a federation facility in Tirrenia.

“We’re waiting for them to pay up and they certainly won’t so at that point it’s difficult to be in good standing with the people who you asked for help,” Binaghi said. “We’ve cared for her over the years and then when they win two matches they forget about us.”

Sergio Giorgi did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

The 74th-ranked Karin Knapp took Giorgi’s place on the Fed Cup team, which also includes Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani and Francesca Schiavone.

The 24-year-old Giorgi has played in five Fed Cup ties for Italy, with a record of three wins and five losses.

Giorgi is in position to qualify for Rio, with the top 56 in the rankings getting direct acceptances for the Olympic tournament.