Nadal Skit On French TV Earns Boos and Lawsuits

By Erik Gudris

(February 8th, 2012) First it was former French Open champion Yannick Noah getting into hot water over his comments about Spanish tennis players but now it's French television channel Canal + that is under fire for a skit using a puppet of Rafael Nadal that is generating more boos than laughs.

During a recent airing of the show Les Guignols, or The Puppets, a puppet of Nadal is shown walking into a gas station shop to buy a bottle of a water which he drinks before stepping outside to fill up his car's gas tank with his bladder. Nadal is then pulled over by police for speeding after which a logo of the Spanish Tennis Federation flashes on screen with the words "Spanish Athletes. They do not win by chance."

After the skit was shown, it prompted an immediate outcry from the Spanish Tennis Federation who plans to sue the channel for inappropriate use of its logo while the International Tennis Federation denounced the "unfounded insinuations" of the program saying that the skit went against the ITF's efforts to stop doping and other illegal drug use within the sport. The ITF is also asking that the video be removed and for the channel to issue an apology "to all Spanish players who have been wrongly implicated".

The skit was introduced on the program with the news about Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador was banned from the sport for two years after failing a doping test during the 2010 Tour de France, an announcement that Nadal himself protested against on his own Twitter account.

The video was pulled down from You Tube but is still viewable on Marca.com, a Spanish news website.

No data found

Share Your Thoughts: To leave a comment Sign in or Register for a Tennis Now account.
More Tennis Now: Daily News Video \| Tournament Slideshows \| Player Gear \| Social Media

Leave message

Name:
Your e-mail:
Message:

Nadal Skit On French TV Earns Boos and Lawsuits

Related Articles

Headlines

American 0-For Continues in Dusseldor...

Brian Baker Stuns Monfils in Nice; Is...

Schiavone and Stephens Reach Strasbou...

Radwanska Sisters Reach Quarters of B...

Djokovic To Leave Sergio Tacchini, Si...

Schiavone Earns Needed Win in Strasbo...

Wickmayer Grinds On as Kanepi Advance...

Tomic into 2nd Round at Nice; Baker G...

Berdych Hammers Roddick, Stepanek Cru...

Jankovic Suffers Another Early Loss a...

Heroes and Zeros: Rafa’s Roman Pillag...

Lisicki Exits Strasbourg on Opening D...

He’s the King Again: Nadal Defeats Dj...

Wordplay: The Best Quotes from Rome

Shortcuts