Safin: Agassi must give back titles

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:55

The American, who won eight grand slam titles and earned more than US$30million in prize money during his distinguished career, revealed in his newly-released autobiography, ‘Open’, that he failed a drugs test for crystal meth in 1997 then lied to avoid a ban.

Agassi has listed guilt and a desire to help others who may be tempted by drugs as the reasons behind his shock admission but Safin wants the 39-year-old to prove his sincerity, telling L’Equipe: “He feels guilty? So let him just give back his titles, money, his grand slams.”

Safin added: “If he is about fair play, he should go all the way. The ATP have a bank account, he can refund the money if he wants to.

“What’s done is done. He hopes to sell more books. But he is completely stupid.

“I’m not defending the ATP but what he said put them in a bad position. The ATP allowed him to win a lot of tournaments, to make a lot of money.

“They kept his secret so why be so cruel with them? There are times you need to be able to shut up.”

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