Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal asked for the results of all drugs tests he has taken in his career to be released to the public in a letter to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday.
Nadal, on Tuesday, filed a lawsuit against former French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot after she accused him of covering up a failed drug test.
Bachelot alleged that Nadal – one of Spain’s most loved and admired sportsmen – 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.
Nadal who has never failed a drug test in his many years on the ATP Tour has however always vehemently denied ever using a banned substance.
It is necessary that our sport becomes a flagship in a world where transparency and honesty are two pillars of our conduct and way of living. I believe the time has arrived and our sport and our governing bodies need to step up in communicating well to the world. I know how many times I am tested, on and off competition. Please make all my information public. Please make public my biological passport, my complete history of Anti-Doping controls and tests. From now on I ask you to communicate when I am tested and the results as soon as they are ready from your labs. I also encourage you to start filing lawsuits if there is any misinformation spread by anyone. It can’t be free anymore in our tennis world to speak and to accuse without evidence.Rafael Nadal’s Letter to ITF
The ITF acknowledged the receipt of Nadal’s letter and confirmed he had never committed a doping violation while inviting the Spaniard to personally make his records public.
“The ITF has received a letter from Rafael Nadal that includes a request to release his personal test results under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP),” the federation said in a statement.
“The ITF can confirm that Mr Nadal has never failed a test under the TADP and has not been suspended at any time for an anti-doping rule violation (or for any other reason related to the TADP).
“Mr Nadal, as all other players who are subject to the TADP, has access to his anti-doping records through WADA’s ADAMS database and is free to make them available. The accuracy of any such release would be verified by the ITF,” it added.
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