Grace period for meldonium back to Sept 30

The World Anti-Doping Agency has extended the period in which athletes testing positive for meldonium can escape sanctions.

Under WADA's new guidelines, athletes who test positive for a low concentration of meldonium between March 1 and September 30 can be cleared based on a "no fault finding".

WADA extended a policy that had previously covered the period from January 1-March 1.

The agency updated the rules following further studies which showed the drug took much longer to be cleared from the system than previously thought.

The guidelines cover athletes who maintain they took meldonium before January 1, the date the drug was officially placed on the banned list.