Tennis star Rafael Nadal said that he is planning to take legal action against the former French Minister for Health and Sport after the politician alleged that he used a banned substance. Roselyne Bachelot, the former French sports minister, accused Nadal of doping last week, prompting the tennis star to come out and firmly deny those allegations.
Nadal has been accused of doping in the past, but the tennis star said that he is "fed up" with the allegations and that is why he is taking legal action. The comments centered on Nadal's knee injury in 2012 that cost him seven months. Bachelot said that the absence was not about an injury, but due to testing positive for a banned substance.
The accusations came after Maria Sharapova announced that she tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open. Nadal said that he plans on taking action for the comments. The 14-time Grand Slam winner spoke about the issue after winning at Indian Wells to advance to the third round of the tournament.
"I know how tough I work to be here, to listen to her, to comments from a person who should be serious, because she was a minister of a big country, a great country like France....So I'm going to sue her. In the past I didn't want to go for justice, to sue the people who said these things because I didn't think they were serious, but a minister of France should be serious," Nadal said.
Nadal has never been hit with a positive test during his career, and he said that he has never taken any banned substances. The Spanish star was asked about Sharapova and her positive test while playing at Indian Wells, saying that it was unfortunate, but that Sharapova must serve her punishment. Nadal has dealt with injuries throughout his career due to his harsh playing style.
There have been rumors that have popped up in the past regarding Nadal and his use of performance enhancing substances, but he has never been caught using any. Nadal claims that he has always been clean, and clearly the accusations from the French minister went too far for him this time.
"I am a completely clean guy. I have never had the temptation of doing something wrong," Nadal said.
