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RAFAEL NADAL stepped up his attack on those who label him a drugs cheat, threatening to sue the French ex-sports minister who said the Spaniard failed a drug test.
Nadal said he is seeking “justice” and will have his day in court to silence critics like former French minister Roselyne Bachelot.
“I gonna sue her, and I gonna sue everyone who gonna comment something similar in the future, because I am tired of that,” Nadal said Sunday.
Bachelot, who served as sports minister between 2007 and 2010, has said that Nadal faked an injury in 2012, when he missed the final six months of the season due to knee problems, in order to hide a positive drug test. The 14-time Grand Slam champion said he was going to seek “justice” and use the courts to put a stop to speculation he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
“I am tired about these things. I let it go a few times in the past. No more,” Nadal said, adding that he expected better of person who was “minister of a big country and a great country like France.”
Nadal has never failed a drug test in his many years on the ATP Tour and has always vehemently denied ever using a banned substance. He said he had been reluctant to take on people who accused him of using drugs, but has now changed his mind.
Nadal’s comments come in the wake of former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova’s failed drug test at the Australian Open, which she revealed earlier this month.
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid expressed its “total support” for Nadal in a statement, which called the accusations by Bachelot “unjustifiable and intolerable.”
Nadal is a prominent fan of Real and a “member of honor” of the club.
Real manager Zinedine Zidane also backed Nadal.
“I feel bad for what is being said,” the former France great said. “Everyone who likes sports likes Nadal, whether you are French, American, he is spectacular.”
The Spanish Olympic Committee, national team manager Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique have also supported Nadal, who denies any wrongdoing.
(SD-Agencies)
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