Saudi envoy ‘hurt’ by criticism from tennis legends
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, accused by the Saudi ambassador of having 'turned their backs on women'
Tennis greats Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have “turned their backs on women” by opposing plans to stage women’s events in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States has claimed.
Final week, the combine composed a conclusion piece sketching out their restriction for facilitating the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.
The WTA is considering moving the season-ending competition to Riyadh.
Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud said their see was “past disappointing”.
Navratilova, 67, and Evert, 69, each won 18 Fantastic Pummel singles titles between 1974 and 1991.
Their conclusion column within The Washington Post final week was featured: ‘We did not offer assistance construct women’s tennis for it to be abused by Saudi Arabia’.
In it, they said moving the “crown gem” women’s occasion to Saudi Arabia was “inconsistent with the soul and reason of women’s tennis and the WTA itself” and was a “critical regression”.
“Not as it were is this a nation where ladies are not seen as rising to, it may be a where the current scene incorporates a male guardianship law that makes ladies the property of men. A nation that criminalizes the LGBTQ community to the point of conceivable passing sentences. A nation whose long-term record on human rights and basic freedoms has been a matter of worldwide concern for decades,” they wrote.
But in an explanation issued on Tuesday, Princess Reema – who is additionally a part of Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee and a Universal Olympic Committee board part – said they had “turned their back on the exceptionally same ladies they have propelled and it is past disappointing”.
She did not address the pair’s feedback on laws that criminalize the LGBTQ community.
Al-Saud said the match ought to “get your actualities straight” on things of Saudi law influencing ladies and said their contentions were “based on obsolete generalizations and western-centric sees of our culture”.
She included: “Coming up short to recognize the extraordinary advance ladies have made in Saudi Arabia criticizes our surprising travel. This not as it were undermines the advance of ladies in sports, it tragically undermines ladies, advance as a whole.
“Sports should not be utilized as a weapon to progress individual predisposition or motivation or punish a society that’s enthusiastic to grasp tennis and offer assistance celebrate and develop the sport.”
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur – a symbol within the Arab world, and the runner-up at Wimbledon for each of the past two a long- time in August she would be “exceptionally energized” in case the WTA Finals were to be held in Saudi Arabia.
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But faultfinders of Saudi Arabia have accused the oil-rich kingdom of utilizing its riches to contribute to sports in an offer to move forward its picture – known as ‘sports washing’.
It takes after later overwhelming speculation in golf, Equation 1, football, and boxing in particular.
Campaigning organizations stay basic of Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights and correspondence.
