Nadal shocked by Agassi cover-up

BBC Sport
2009/10/29 22:54:18 GMT

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have both said they are shocked by the news
that tennis authorities covered up Andre Agassi’s use of banned drugs.

Multiple Grand Slam winner Agassi said he lied about using crystal meth to
the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1997 to avoid a ban.

Nadal said: "If the ATP covered for Agassi then I think that’s dreadful."

Federer added: "It was a shock when I heard. I am disappointed and I hope
there are no more cases in future."

World number two Nadal, who played Agassi twice in his career, said the
ATP’s decision to take the American on his word without further
investigation was a slight on his fellow tennis players.

"If they covered for the player and punished others for doing the same kind
of thing then that would seem to me to be a lack of respect for all
sportsmen," the Spaniard added.

Agassi, who won eight Grand Slams and is one of only six men to win all four
major titles, said in his autobiography this week that he took the highly
addictive drug with a former assistant and then lied to the ATP that his
drink had been accidently spiked.

The ATP believed his story and took no action against the Las Vegan, who at
the time had slumped to 141 in the world rankings despite having three Grand
Slam titles already under his belt.

While world number one Federer was equally surprised, he admitted that
Agassi, now 39, "has done a lot for tennis, both as a player and as a human
being".

"Today, he raises millions of dollars for his foundation for disadvantaged
children," Federer said.

And former US Open winner Andy Roddick insists his impression of Agassi will
not be clouded by the drug use.

"Andre is and always will be my idol. I will judge him on how he has treated
me and how he has changed the world for (the) better," Roddick wrote on his
Twitter page.

The American world number seven added: "To be fair, when Andre wrote the
reported letter, he was well outside the top 100 and widely viewed as on the
way out."

Yet Nadal said he could not understand the timing and why Agassi "now that
he is retired, comes out and says this".

He added: "It’s a way of senselessly damaging the sport."

The ATP said it could not comment on Agassi’s drug-taking revelation because
it had withdrawn its doping case against him.

But the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has since helped tighten up
drugs procedures in tennis, has asked the ATP to "shed light" on the case.

Dick Pound, the former head of Wada, said Agassi’s admission should serve as
a wake-up call to the ATP.

"It has got to the point where either these sports organisations enforce the
rules or someone like congress is going to say ‘we gave you a chance to
manage your affairs properly and now we are going to take it over,’" said
Pound, a senior Canadian member on the International Olympic Committee.

"The fact that one of the stars acknowledged that it is simple to beat the
system tells you everything you need to know.

"He lied about the test but the most interesting part is the ATP and why
they did not do anything."

Story from BBC SPORT:
tennis/8333115.stm

Published: 2009/10/29 22:54:18 GMT

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress