Spanish doctors and trainer under investigation for involvement in Armstrong doping scandal

Spain's anti-doping authority has opened an investigation into three people thought to have had links with Lance Armstrong's substance misuse.

Prosecuters have begun looking into two Spanish doctors, Luis Garcia del Moral and Pedro Celaya, and a physical trainer, Pepe Marti, in relation to the Armstrong affair, according to the Global Post.

In October, Del Moral wrote an open letter to the press, in which he denied any participation in the doping scandal.

He, and the others, were named following the release of the USADA report into Lance Armstrong.

But the tennis star Rafael Nadal has criticised the actions of another court in Spain, which ordered 211 blood bags to be destroyed without analysis following the convction of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes for supplying blood transfusions to cyclists.

"The ruling wasn't positive for anyone," Nadal told the BBC. "The only ones that benefited were those who cheated. The ones that are hurt are Spanish athletes and sports in general."

He added: "The image this transmits to the world isn't the one we were hoping for.

"I think it is a mistake that the names (of Fuentes' clients) are not known, but that is what happened. We will keep working so that sports stays clean and this doesn't happen again in the future."

Nadal's rival Andy Murray had already questioned the outcome of the case, tweeting  "Why would court order blood bags to be destroyed? #coverup."