WADA chief Reedie says meldonium found in 47 of 49 failed Russian dope tests

President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie gestures during an interview with Reuters at the WADA symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

LONDON (Reuters) - World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Craig Reedie has disclosed that most of the Russian sportsmen and women who have failed drug tests in the last six months did so because meldonium was detected in their system.

Reedie said the drug, which Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova told a news conference she had used for health reasons after she failed a drugs test earlier this year, was responsible for 47 of the 49 adverse analytical findings in Russia between November 2015 and May 2016.