Joe Duggan (Reporter)
RAFAEL Nadal is suing the former French minister who accused him of doping.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner is launching the defamation suit after Roselyne Bachelot’s ‘offensive remarks’ last month.
Bachelot claimed that Nada’s seven-month layoff in 2012 was ‘probably due to a positive doping test’.
The Spaniard claimed he had tendinitis and a virus.
In a statement, Nadal said: “Through this case, I intend not only to defend my integrity and my image as an athlete but also the values I have defended all my career.
“I also wish to avoid any public figure from making insulting or false allegations against an athlete using the media, without any evidence or foundation and to go unpunished.”
Nadal has pledged to donate any money won from the case to a non-governmental organisation or foundation in France.
