Nadal slams French 'campaign' to discredit Spain
Rafa Nadal has hit out at what he called a "general campaign" in France to discredit Spanish athletes by implying their success is due to the use of illegal drugs.
Speaking a day after the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) said it would sue French TV broadcaster Canal+ for "unacceptable and damaging insinuations" in a cartoon about Nadal, the world number two said he found the attacks "sad".
"It's the kind of humour that for one day is fine but if it is repeated over and over again it's not right and I think it oversteps the line a bit," Nadal said at a training session in his home town of Manacor on the island of Mallorca on Thursday.
"I don't think it's just one media, it's a general campaign by the neighbouring country," the six-times French Open champion added.
"It's sad to see a campaign like that against something that has cost so much to achieve.
"There's no question of pills or syringes or anything like that I can assure you."
The Canal+ sketch from their show "Les Guignols", or "The Puppets", showed a life-size likeness of Nadal filling up his car's gas tank from his own bladder before being pulled over by traffic police for speeding.
"Spanish athletes. They do not win by chance," is flashed on the screen surrounded by the logo of the RFET and several other Spanish federations, including soccer and cycling.
The RFET said it planned to sue the broadcaster for the attack on Nadal as well as for reproducing the federation's emblem without permission.
Canal+ has broadcast several other cartoon sketches implying Spanish athletes use illegal drugs, including one about cyclist Alberto Contador, who was handed a two-year ban on Monday after testing positive for a banned anabolic agent during his victorious 2010 Tour de France campaign.
Contador, who was stripped of the title, denies wrongdoing.
"I think it's an issue one shouldn't comment on personally but collectively," Nadal said.
"I think in this case it's the institutions who have to defend us because I don't think it's a campaign against me or any other individual but one against Spain in general.
"I don't think it's just Canal+ who does it. There are other media who are also joining in."
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo and European Commissioner Michel Barnier, a Frenchman, were asked about the sketches at a news conference in Madrid on Thursday.
Garcia-Margallo said the government was very concerned about the "succession of images" coming out of France that had "denigrated Spanish sport".
"The videos are in extraordinarily bad taste and show a profound lack of ethics, not to say they lie," he added.
The Spanish ambassador in Paris would be writing to French media, and to the director of Canal+ in particular, to express Spain's displeasure, he added.
Barnier said French politicians had learned to distance themselves from cartoons like those shown on Canal+ and to avoid commenting on them as it did not generally help.
Canal+ could not be reached for comment.
Comment 71 - 90 of 90
LilBee, on Fri 10 Feb 1:22AM
Everyone can say what they want on the blogs - as they already do, but one thing that is particularly irritating is making up false claims - which would obviously have hit the tennis headlines if they were true:
"Did you know that Rafa wants a change in the ranking system? He wants the system to count two years' worth of results instead of one. That would mean Rafa would still be number one, despite all of the losses against Djoko. Hmm. He wants a shorter schedule. He wants all courts to be slow(er). Balls to be faster, or was it lighter, or was it heavier?. I can't keep up anymore."
If you can't keep up anymore - as you say, perhaps you should consider retiring from your relentless campaign of disrespect and smearing Rafa's name. @#$% lol..
The King of wishful thinking Ralph is throwing insults here - "morons", "idiots", "smarting from fed rafa experience"... It's really pathetic to hear this from a guy who has been proven wrong on every occasion since the summer of 2010. It's not a surprise a man that don't know decency is a supporter of a player who also has to deal with moral issues. And, believe it or not, the last touching fed rafa experience was in 2009. Since then Rafa naturally has become a clear favorite in their meetings which has not occurred to be an obstacle for Roger to win 3 more GS titles - including RG - and break the all time GS record. And also Rafa's dominance over Fed did not prevent the 30 years old Maestro to give the 25 ranging bull the bagel three months ago.
If there's smarting that should come from this quite embarrassing 7:0 that Rafa and his fans have to swallow. It seems to be most embarrassing exactly for the King of wishful thinking who has been coming up with a bright prognosis ahead of every match. We can understand his pain, but it's about time for him to start behaving...
French are so pathetic! Sour losers! Feel really sorry for them! Concentrate on others instead of looking at your own yard... Sad!!!
How many French athletes or sportsmen/women can you think of who have tested positive in recent times? I cannot name 1 with any certainty. The Spanish list is endless & Nadal will be on it if WADA grow a pair.
Con, you obviously did not understand my comment. I don't think I mentioned Federer anywhere in it so I don't see why you'd need to... oh wait - offense is the best defense?
And I did not say that because Agassi used illegal substances so does Rafa, so your whole murderer analogy is pointless. I was referring to the anti-drug tests and how nothing was ever revealed until Agassi spoke out himself.
Sometimes I think you just argue with everyone for the sake of arguing. I wish I had that kind of time on my hands.
Mens tennis is a 3 man show and has been for years! Boring sport for rich kids...
Hi Con I always browse your posts for a bit of light hearted rubbish to read before bedtime and was surprised to find you talking about looking at Raffa's crotch, I can see from your picture you like to show of your looks but are you gay or an LGBT to be politically correct?
Wow. The comments are pretty impressive. I mean, how can you get that ridiculous ?
A few points:
- To Mirjana: please check your facts before saying that many stupid things. We have spanish ham (I personally think it's the best), we have real orange juice (we have orange in south of france....) and we have a shitload of oranges from spain. Same with the cars.
- To everyone saying france is most racist country in europe: seriously ? Goddamnit, travel a bit. And for the brits trashing france ? What about the edl ? The riots last year? We @#$% up our colonisation, but what about you ? India, pakistan, rhodesia? And spain ? A less racist country than France ? Please let me laugh. Just so everyone understands me: we are all to blame.
- Tour de france= tour de drugs? Yeah well obviously, but let me ask you something: the riders take drugs for tour de france, but they are obviously clean for the vuelta and the giro, right ? Hence it's the fault of the French...
- France jealous of Spain in sports ? My god, it's SPORTS. Obviously there is a lot of trashtalk and envy, it's how it @#$% works. And please, the spaniards are not known to be the most fair play and "beau joueur" in the world... Get over it (and grow up).
- Last but not least: The canal + show is satirical. Go look up the definition in the dictionary. The main (98%) targets of this show are FRENCH. They make fun at how bad our players are. And I thought the british had a good sense of humour....
Final point: this is so ridiculous it makes laugh. It was an international jury which condemned Contador, not a French one. And trust me, 99% of the French population doesn't give a heck about this story. Unlike, apparently, the spaniards.
if there's person in tennis who seems using drugs now it looks novak djokovik, started season 2011 djokovik's unbeatable and his strength unbelievable till last ausie2012....in the year2007-2010 this rafa nadal's best times no one questioning him....
LilBee,
I think you are right. Rafa made a lot of mistakes that discredited him as a real dignified sportsman. Complaining in his situation is crucial reputation wise. His fans are doing wrong when defending everything he says. They can help him if he understands that his supporters don't like some of his decisions. You know that I am ready for a critical approach towards Federer when he deserves it. The same should refer to Rafa. When always excusing him you make him look like a kid and not a warrior.
When not proven doping thing is just a harmful nonsense, but to be honest Nadal did so much to make himself a matter of suspect - shorter season, two years ranking, slower surfaces, different balls, injuries, time delays... The cramp he had during a presser is something ordinary but in a certain context it raises some fitness questions. And who makes this unfavorable context, it's Rafa himself.
To Con you wrote,
Federer was SPEAKING out when he was at No1 and at no2, wanting shorter seasons and faster courts.
When did Federer ever publically say he wanted faster courts? Do you have any proof of this or are you making it up to save face for your idol Nadal?
Aaditya, let me get this right, you are accusing Con of having multiple accounts?! Now that is rich coming from you you big cry baby!! You come on here with your crocodile tears 'booohoooo' playing the race card when really you are the biggest racist and xenophobe on here. Every once in a while you attempt to make it look like you are a real tennis fan (remember your pathetic 'happy new year Jude all the best!) but the thin veneer soon disappears and you are exposed from what you really are.....a Rafa hating psychopath. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the things Con writes on here and I have had exchanges with him myself however he doesn't come on here to libel tennis players for the sake of it and he doesn't deliberately pick arguments spouting racist nonsense. You think it is ok for you to say Con's wife is a prostitute just because she's Russian, I'm guessing you think it's acceptable because you are Asian to say that? Sick, sick man. You don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot, do you? Give it a bone for once in your life and have a bit of dignity instead of your poisonous drivel with your over the top 'big' words peppered in trying to pass yourself off as a Doctor. Sorry, but Doctors don't write in the style of a 14-yr-olds text message. You are very transparent, time to change tactics if you want people to treat you seriously and actually believe your nonsense. You deserve everything you get on here you absolute cretin.
hey con post 68 u summed it up peRfectly. its a shame there are so many morons on this site still smarting from the rafa fed experience and take any opportunity to slander his name. but what to do in kathmandu, the world is full of idiots thats why its in such a mess these days. vamos
We all know it, french people are morons. XD
@aaditya
Yes Everyone know Con!! but we also know you to be the person that has
REFUSE to see anything good in Rafa, that awaits any headline about Rafa
in order to make a negative comment. aaditya the babyboy! Lol...
French are the greatest nationalists in whole EU. They didn't import smoked ham from Spain which was prepared for them quoting it did not pass sanitary control, but everyone knows it is not the truth. They sabotage import of cars from other countries, but mainly buy cars which they produce. They drink some orangeade, and it is not orange juice, but some carbonated beverage for they produce that, in spite of they can import real orange juice from Spain or Italy. And now, they try to soil Spanish sport for they feel envy for Spanish success in tennis, or foothball. What a shame!
Con, pot calling the kettle black? LOl... After posting on an average 20 comments in every thread you have no locus standi to talk about others ;-)) are you tired of wozis repeated losses you have changed your tune... From being wozi licker now you are the latest rafatard...
Everyone knows you con... Btw have you given your fake "con" account some rest??? LOL
We dont see you logging from there any more...
Time to dog walk your russian huka... Pipe down and crawl back under the rock Con
@70 From aaditya, on Fri 10 Feb 8:55AM
well, you've already EXPOSED yourself asthe BIGGEST IDIOT on this forum so no more needs to be said.
As for BARKING, you do enough here for ALL of us.
At first, neighbours take notice of the barking dog, maybe something is wrong, the dog has a reason for barking.
But after a while, the neighbours stop taking the dog seriously, it all becomes another normal noise in the neighbourhood and everyone knows the dog's BARK is worse than it's BITE!
Bark, Bark.....
Woof, Woof!
Who cares.
The Tour De France is the most Drug riddled sporting event in recent sporting memory.
Perhaps this is France's way of De Touring the attention away from their own mess and directing it at some else, how convenient this is with the French Open just a bend away.
Was it not the French who lost to Serbia in the 2010 Davis Cup and went on to CRYING SPREE about the Crowds and the noise calling the Serbds IDIOTS?????
Funny and a bit silly that rafa react in this way,he forgotten that 90% of french fans back hin in ronald garros??how is he going to cope with the pubblic after this maddness?I've seen that puppet show mocking a lot of french top sporter insinuating the using of doping including obama,bush, sarkozy,dsk(dominic strass khan) angela markel,ect,after the news of rape which was not true,if you dont understand just watch it in youtube,its very funny joking program,even this crying spanish people have this kind of program in antena 3 catalunya,i watch it sometimes,they mok messi,ronaldo,morinho,puyol and all other stars and they never complain
-it's just a pity that people who dont like Nadal are sending him a wrong message to get him in a trap, it would be very bad for him when he play in Roland Garos.
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