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Cape Town - Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal said he has nothing to hide after his medical records were made public after being leaked by a cyber-hacking group on Monday.
So far the so-called 'Fancy Bears', who are responsible for having hacked into World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) records, have published, mostly, therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) of more than 60 international athletes.
Some of the well-known names mentioned are the likes of - Nadal, British Olympic great Mo Farah, Serena and Venus Williams, gymnast Simone Biles and Tour de France-winning cyclists Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.
Interestingly enough none of the medical records released has in any way implicated the named athletes as having done anything wrong. Most got permission to use TUEs on WADA's banned list for an illness or condition that requires the use of the normally prohibited medication.
In an interview with Spanish media, Nadal said he had nothing to hide as he got permission to use TUEs for therapeutic reasons related to his troublesome knee injury.
"When you ask permission to take something for therapeutic reasons and they give it to you, you're not taking anything prohibited," Nadal said.
"It's not news, it's just inflammatory."
Nadal, who has twice been granted a TUE, added that no medication he had ever used had in any way improved his performance on court, having taken medication that doctors had told him to use with regard to his knee injury.
The 14-time grand slam winner said he believed that all medical records after being tested should be made public and he would support the publishing of all medical records.
"It would be much more beneficial for sportsmen and women, spectators and media that every time a drug test is taken the news is made public and two weeks later there are the results," he added.
"This would end the problem. Sport has to take a step forward and be totally transparent. I have been saying this for years."
So far the so-called 'Fancy Bears', who are responsible for having hacked into World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) records, have published, mostly, therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) of more than 60 international athletes.
Some of the well-known names mentioned are the likes of - Nadal, British Olympic great Mo Farah, Serena and Venus Williams, gymnast Simone Biles and Tour de France-winning cyclists Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.
Interestingly enough none of the medical records released has in any way implicated the named athletes as having done anything wrong. Most got permission to use TUEs on WADA's banned list for an illness or condition that requires the use of the normally prohibited medication.
In an interview with Spanish media, Nadal said he had nothing to hide as he got permission to use TUEs for therapeutic reasons related to his troublesome knee injury.
"When you ask permission to take something for therapeutic reasons and they give it to you, you're not taking anything prohibited," Nadal said.
"It's not news, it's just inflammatory."
Nadal, who has twice been granted a TUE, added that no medication he had ever used had in any way improved his performance on court, having taken medication that doctors had told him to use with regard to his knee injury.
The 14-time grand slam winner said he believed that all medical records after being tested should be made public and he would support the publishing of all medical records.
"It would be much more beneficial for sportsmen and women, spectators and media that every time a drug test is taken the news is made public and two weeks later there are the results," he added.
"This would end the problem. Sport has to take a step forward and be totally transparent. I have been saying this for years."
