Rafael Nadal tells L’Equipe (English translation here) that Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor at the center of the “Operation Puerto” trial, should be allowed to name all athletes he knows have doped.
The judge has so far refused to allow Dr. Fuentes to discuss names outside of cycling, but Fuentes has said that he treated soccer players at his Madrid clinic. Fuentes has not been asked to reveal the code names attached to the 200 blood bags he was found with in 2006.
Fuentes told the court that in 2006, “I worked with all types of athletes. Footballers, athletes, cyclists, boxer and tennis players.”
Fuentes is said to be behind one of sports’ largest blood doping rackets.
"What’s happening right now in Spain in a court of law, is something that I don’t understand," said Nadal. "I don’t understand why doctor Fuentes doesn’t give names. I don’t understand why the judge doesn’t ask him to name them. That has disappointed me…It would be best if the doctor just tells them and those who are caught, suffer the consequences. I don’t know why they don’t go right down to the bottom of it all. We need to cleanse it properly. I have heard that this doctor has worked with foreign athletes but because the doctor is Spanish, the prejudice is mainly aimed at Spanish sports people. As a Spanish sports person, this affects me badly. Because of people like [U.S. cyclist Lance] Armstrong, all our reputations are in doubt."