Incompatible with your own goals
Tennis icons complain about Saudi Arabia plans
January 17, 2024, 10:31 a.m
Saudi Arabia continues to expand its power in world sport. The season finale of the world’s best tennis players is apparently also scheduled to take place in the kingdom this year. Former superstars Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert consider this unacceptable.
The two American tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert spoke out against hosting the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia in a joint letter to WTA boss Steve Simon. “We absolutely recognize the importance of respecting different cultures and religions. That is precisely why we believe that allowing Saudi Arabia to host the WTA Finals is incompatible with the spirit and mission of women’s tennis and the WTA is,” says the letter from which “Sports Illustrated” reported.
The women’s organization WTA was founded on the basis of fairness and equality “to empower women in a male-dominated world. The WTA should therefore represent values that are in stark contrast to those of Saudi Arabia.” Not only do women in Saudi Arabia not have equal rights, the LGBTQ community is also criminalized in the country.
There has long been speculation that the year-end tournament for the eight best players of 2024 will take place in Saudi Arabia for the first time. Saudi Arabia has been investing huge amounts of money in sport for some time to increase its influence in the world and improve its image. Saudi Arabia has recently had success in golf, Formula 1 and football, among others. World footballer Lionel Messi, for example, plays in the USA, but is a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia. His eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr and reportedly receives an annual salary of 200 million euros. The awarding of the 2034 World Cup to the Kingdom by the world football association FIFA is considered certain.
Nadal is now an ambassador for Saudi Arabia’s tennis
The exiled Saudi lawyer and human rights activist Taha al-Hajji explained the tactics behind it in an interview with tagesschau.de as follows: “With these deals and big events in the sports field, the Saudi government wants to cover up the dark side of the country, the side of executions and Oppression.” With the help of major events and world stars, “the Saudis are trying to deceive the press and the public,” said al-Hajji.
The country is repeatedly accused of human rights violations; the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was apparently killed in an apparently bestial manner in the Saudi Arabian consulate general in Istanbul in 2018, attracted global attention in particular. His body is still missing to this day.
The country has been trying to gain influence in tennis for some time now. On Tuesday it was announced that Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal had taken up a role as ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Association.
The WTA has so far kept a low profile on the topic. The organization has not yet announced a venue for the WTA Finals at the end of the season. Last year the prestigious event took place in Cancun, Mexico. There was a lot of criticism because of poor conditions and organizational breakdowns.