Federer comes to Agassi's defence in drug furore

London: No sportsperson is greater than the sport, and a person such as Roger Federer — deemed by many as one of the all-time greats in tennis — has exactly this notion.

"It's definitely not good for our sport. We have to deal with it and do the best we can," Federer said in response to a question regarding Andre Agassi's admission on taking drugs during his playing career.

Agassi stunned the sporting world last month when he made the sensational confession that he had lied to the tennis authorities in order to escape a ban for taking hard drugs.

The American, one of the finest players to grace the game, tested positive for the highly addictive drug, crystal methamphetamine, and then duped the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) into believing he had taken it by accident.

Federer is among the few top players who have pitched in favour of the doping procedures in place for sportspersons although it has created no deal of comfort to them. "It's all very tough for us the way the tests are done these days. There are many guys who are not happy with the system," Federer said.

"But I think it's necessary just to be able to keep a clean sport," he added.

Conscience

It has been tough on the conscience of the sporting world after Agassi's self confession on his behaviour. And Federer feels that this should not take anything away from the former champion.

"What happened obviously is not nice. At the same time, you shouldn't take anything away of what he's done for kids around the world, especially in Las Vegas, by raising the amount of money he did," Federer said.

Agassi has been one of the most active sportspersons backing charities all around the world. Perhaps one of the best known was when in 2007, Agassi joined with other sporting legends to found ‘Athletes for Hope', a charitable organisation which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes.

"He still remains an exceptional tennis player and person. It's just a hiccup and obviously it's going to cast a shadow over his image," he added.