A Russian speed skater revealed he had failed a drugs test for meldonium on the day the country’s sports officials warned more athletes could test positive for the drug responsible for Maria Sharapova failing a test at the Australian Open.

Sharapova claimed she had been taking the drug for 10 years for medical reasons such as an irregular heartbeat and a history of diabetes in her family.

The Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said the drug, which is manufactured in Latvia, was popular among the country’s athletes.

It was not revealed when or where the world champion speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov had tested positive.

“There won’t be a huge wave but I suspect there could be several more cases. Maybe this will wake up our trainers and federation a bit. Unfortunately, a lot of athletes took this medicine,” Mutko told the Russian agency R-Sport. “This medicine used to be allowed, it does not do anything major, it just helped a lot of people with their recovery times; it did not offer any unfair advantages.”

The former European ice dancing champion and Olympic gold medallist Ekaterina Bobrova admitted on Monday she had failed a doping test in January over her use of meldonium. She and her partner, Dmitry Soloviev, are now ruled out of the world championships in Boston later this month.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ekaterina Bobrova, pictured with her partner Dmitry Soloviev, is now ruled out of the world figure skating championships after testing positive for meldonium, . Photograph: Petr David Josek/AP

On Tuesday, the coach of the Russian world champion speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov said he had also failed a doping test for meldonium.

The substance was added to the banned list in January, with the World Anti-Doping Agency finding “evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance”.

Mutko said Russia’s anti-doping agency issued a warning last year that meldonium would be banned from 1 January and that sporting federations, trainers and doctors needed to show more responsibility towards their athletes. He said Russia needed “three to four years” to fully get its house in order after the recent wave of drugs scandals.

Wada suspended the Russian anti-doping agency late last year, amid allegations there had been a systematic cover-up of positive results involving collusion by the Russian agency and top Russian officials. A lengthy report uncovered a “deeply rooted culture of cheating” and recommended Russia be banned from the Olympic Games in Rio unless it completely overhauls its approach. A decision has not yet been taken on whether the Russian athletics team will be able to compete though the International Association of Athletics Federations meets to discuss the matter at the end of this week.

Dmitry Svishchev, the head of the Russian parliament’s committee on sport and youth policy, hinted there was a specific targeting of Russian athletes by the global sports body, but also expressed anger with trainers for not following the new regulations regarding meldonium.

“After the serious blow to Russia last year, when top officials spoke out and our track and field athletes were banned, I would have thought this would have brought many athletes and trainers to their senses. Why put in all the work only to get banned? I don’t know what they were thinking,” Svishchev said.In Sharapova’s case, Russian officials expressed hope she would be able to play in Rio. “I think this is just a load of nonsense,” Shamil Tarpishchev, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, told Tass, when asked about Sharapova’s provisional suspension.

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“The sportspeople take what they are given by the physiotherapists and by the doctors. I think Sharapova will play at the Olympics, however, we will need to see how this will develop.” In a report on Russia’s state-controlled Channel One, the anchor said Sharapova had “shocked millions of fans”. The retired Russian tennis player Anna Chakvetadze also expressed surprise, saying: “It’s an unexpected blow. Until yesterday I thought our sport was clean. I judged based on my own experience. I knew how much they’d tightened the anti-doping checks but thought everything should be fine.

“It’s not just a blow to Maria Sharapova, it’s a blow to the whole sport,” said the former world No5. She added that given the upcoming Olympics, she hoped there could be a compromise punishment.

“The Olympics are soon and Maria is one of our main medal hopes, I hope she can play whatever happens. She admitted her guilt, I think there should be leniency in the punishment. If she can perform in the Olympics it will be great news for all fans.”