Rafael Nadal has launched a "withering broadside" at the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) after its president José Luis Escañuela was suspended "pending a financial investigation, adding to the sense of disarray" enveloping the organization following Gala León's "controversial appointment as the country's first female Davis Cup captain," according to Les Roopanarine of the London GUARDIAN. Nadal "fulminated at length about the plight of Spanish tennis, which he said had become embroiled in a relentless media circus that threatened to damage the sport’s image, discourage participation and deter sponsors." Nadal: "The situation is terrible. We've put on a show but to me the spectacle we've seen lately is awful. As far as I'm concerned, there's no way that Spanish tennis deserves this after the last 20 years, when we've practically been on top even though we're not a very big country. This ugly and continuous media show is damaging tennis. Everything that's happening is hurting tennis; it's hurting sponsors' enthusiasm when it comes to investing in our sport and it's hurting the dreams of the kids who want to carry on playing. The situation over the past nine months is totally inexplicable." Nadal's comments follow the decision this week by the Spanish government's disciplinary committee for sport (TAD) to suspend Escañuela for a month while the accounts of the RFET are investigated. Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD) will lead the inquiry, which concerns the whereabouts of at least €700,000 ($770,600) paid by the federation to the Spanish Tennis Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in '10 to develop the sport, and the Spanish Tennis Observatory, a "research collaboration with Pablo de Olavide University in Seville." According to the TAD, an audit of documentation held at the RFET's headquarters in Barcelona "has been blocked" by the organization for more than a year. There is "no suggestion of wrongdoing by Escañuela, who will be replaced on a temporary basis" by the RFET VP Olvido Aguilera (GUARDIAN, 6/28).
