Broadcaster in trouble over Nadal sketch
The Spanish tennis federation RFET said on Wednesday it would be suing the French television channel Canal Plus over a satirical sketch indirectly linking tennis star Rafael Nadal with doping.
It follows the show Les Guignols (The Puppets) which was broadcast following the two-year ban for doping on Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador.
World No 2 Nadal features as a puppet in a sketch during which the sentence, "Spanish athletes. They do not win by chance," is flashed on the screen surrounded by the logo of the RFET and several other Spanish sports federations.
RFET said it planned to sue Canal Plus for "publishing a video in which, as well as containing unacceptable and damaging insinuations, the federation's emblem and anagram were used".
Federation president Jose Luis Escanuela said: "On this occasion intolerable limits have been exceeded and we at the RFET cannot ignore such discredit and slander towards our athletes."