Sports minister admits that Spain has "a problem with doping"

Feb 14, 2012, 14:49 GMT

Madrid - Spanish sport has 'a problem with doping,' the nation's Sports Minister Jose Ignacio Wert said Tuesday.

'We have - there is no need to say it because it is blatantly present in current affairs - a problem with doping. That is why we are going to try to pass a modification of the anti-doping law as soon as possible,' said Wert, whose portfolio also includes education and culture.

Only last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed a two-year ban on Spain's star cyclist Alberto Contador for use of the illegal substance clenbuterol and stripped him of the 2010 Tour de France title.

The country's authorities as well as sports stars including former tennis world number one Rafael Nadal have recently slammed as offensive a satirical video by the French TV channel Canal+ that suggested that Nadal and other Spanish sportspeople take banned substances to brace their performances.

Conservative Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused Tuesday to comment directly on the Canal+ programme, but he articulated a staunch defence of his country's tennis at a reception for Nadal and the rest of the Spain team that won last year's Davis Cup.

'Spain is a great country, a great nation, and it is Spaniards that do that, including sportsmen who bear our flag around the world and have made us a more respected country that generates greater interest abroad,' Rajoy said.

'Behind that there is a lot of work, a lot of effort and many sacrifices,' he said.

Rajoy is a great fan of tennis and cycling as well as football. At the reception in the government palace La Moncloa he never uttered the word doping, unlike his sports minister.

Wert stressed that the Rajoy government, in office since December, intends to abide by the World Anti-Doping Code, which the minister regarded as being key to Madrid's aspirations to host the 2020 Olympics.

'Many athletes put their efforts and talent in the service of Spain as a brand, giving our country huge visibility around the world,' Wert said.

'We have great potential, we have to make an effort to ensure that all this talent goes on and that Spanish sport reaches the highest level,' he said.

Nadal told Spanish TV channel Antena 3 late Monday that he thinks the French are 'obsessed' with doping.

'French people treat me wonderfully well, even though when I go out onto the court they cheer less for me. I understand that, because we Spaniards have been winning the Tour (de France) and Roland Garros for many years,' he said.

'They're a tad obsessed with the issue of doping in France. In Spain we have given them more coverage on that than we should have,' he said.

'It's just puppets, but they can influence many people's perception of Spanish sport, thay have done that in bad faith,' Nadal complained.

Nadal, who has won the French Open six times along with four other Grand Slam tournament titles, again insisted that he was clean.

'I have already had three or four doping tests so far this year. It's impossible to cheat,' he said.

Nadal stressed that the success of Spanish sport was built on 'effort, the desire to improve and work.'