Nadal Furious Over Doping Charge

Written by: Staff on 22nd November 2011

Nadal Furious Over Doping Charge |

Rafael Nadal has reacted with fury at charges tossed out at the weekend by former French Open champion Yannick Noah that Spanish sport is riddled with doping. Both Nadal and compatriot David Ferrer, competing at this week’s World Tour Finals in London, slammed the irresponsible statement from the player-turned-pop singer printed in an opinion piece in the French newspaper Le Monde..

“What he said is completely stupid and he knows better than nobody,” said Nadal, winner of ten grand Slams and the king of clay. “To say that today is totally stupid. You know how many anti doping controls we are having during all the season year by year. So, in my opinion, his article, what he wrote, was from a kid.

“I don’t know how to say in English, but especially I think that’s worst for French, for France. It’s worse for his country than for our country, in my opinion, because the image of the country when one guy, an important guy like him, says that, is terrible.”

1983 Roland Garros champion Noah, who also coached the Davis Cup team before taking his singing career fulltime in the 1990s, said that Spanish athletes in general appear to have some secret formula for winning and said that doping might as well be allowed in sport.

“How can a country dominate sport from one day to the next? Had they discovered avant-garde training techniques and methods that no one else imagined? I have searched and didn’t find any documented evidence of such innovations.”

Ferrer added his own criticism of Noah: “For a person who has played tennis and knows how the sport works to say that is outrageous.”

Spanish radio reported that current French player Michael Llodra apologized to Nadal and his uncle Toni for the comments. “I’m sorry about what Noah said,” media reported Llodra as saying. “We don’t understand.”

“DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Topics: Rafael Nadal