Nadal denies illegal doping after latest hacking leak

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has denied accusations of illegal doping after being named in the latest series of leaks by the Russian hacker group 'Fancy Bears'.

The group claims to have breached the files of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and uncovered the identities of athletes permitted to take prohibited products for supposedly therapeutic reasons, reports Xinhua.

Speaking at an event in Zaragoza on Monday, Nadal admitted he had taken such products, but insisted he had done nothing wrong. Nadal has suffered a series of injuries in recent years.

"The two times the leak mentions in 2009 and 2012, I was taking medication for my knees and it was with authorisation (from WADA) and if you have permission to take something then it is not illegal," he said.

Nadal also insisted that the issue should "not be taken out of context".

"We have the best possible anti-doping control in tennis and I have 100 per cent faith in the Agency which controls it and the other players are also clean," said Nadal, who admitted that the situation would be better if the medications taken were made public, rather than being kept private, as is the case now.

"It would benefit everyone if the results were known when tests are taken because everything would be transparent and that is what we all want. Sport not only has to be clean, but it has to be seen to be clean. That way we would end all of the speculation," he concluded.

--IANS

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