Russian rugby players latest athletes to fail meldonium drug tests

Tablets and vials of meldonium, also known as mildronate, are photographed in Moscow, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (AP/James Ellingworth)

MOSCOW -- A husband-and-wife pair of Russian national team rugby players have become the latest athletes to fail drug tests for meldonium.

Alexei Mikhaltsov and Alyona Mikhaltsova, who has also competed as Alyona Bogachyova, tested positive in out-of-competition tests last month, World Rugby said in a statement.

Both Russian teams are still in contention to qualify for the Olympics in August, when rugby returns to the program for the first time since 1924.

The cases mean that at least 19 athletes from four countries, including tennis star Maria Sharapova, are serving provisional suspensions for blood flow-booster meldonium, which was banned Jan. 1.

On Friday, the World Anti-Doping Agency told The Associated Press there had been 99 positive tests for meldonium worldwide this year.