Chris Evert (left) and Martina Navratilova throughout the Wimbledon closing match of 1985. File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States mentioned Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova relied on “outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our culture” in urging the women’s tennis tour to keep away from holding its season-ending event in the kingdom.
“These champions have turned their back on the very same women they have inspired and it is beyond disappointing,” Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud wrote in response to an op-ed piece by Ms. Evert and Ms. Navratilova printed in The Washington Post last week.
“Sports are meant to be a great equalizer that offers opportunity to everyone based on ability, dedication and hard work,” the Saudi diplomat mentioned. “Sports shouldn’t be used as a weapon to advance private bias or agendas … or punish a society that’s keen to embrace tennis and assist have a good time and develop the sport.”
Tennis has been consumed currently by the debate over whether or not the sport ought to observe golf and others in making offers with Saudi Arabia, the place rights teams say ladies proceed to face discrimination in most points of household life and homosexuality is a significant taboo, as it’s in a lot of the relaxation of the Middle East.
In their opinion piece, Ms. Evert and Ms. Navratilova requested the WTA Tour whether or not “staging a Saudi crown-jewel tournament would involve players in an act of sportswashing merely for the sake of a cash influx.”
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has enacted wide-ranging social reforms, including granting women the right to drive and largely dismantling male guardianship laws that had allowed husbands and male relatives to control many aspects of women’s lives. Men and women are still required to dress modestly, but the rules have been loosened and the once-feared religious police have been sidelined.
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Still, same-sex relations are punishable by loss of life or flogging, although prosecutions are uncommon.
“While there’s still work to be done, the recent progress for women, the engagement of women in the workforce, and the social and cultural opportunities being created for women are truly profound, and should not be overlooked,” mentioned Princess Reema, who has been the ambassador to the U.S. since 2019 and is a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Gender, Equality and Inclusion Commission.
“We recognize and welcome that there should be a healthy debate about progress for women,” the diplomat mentioned. “My country is not yet a perfect place for women. No place is.”
