Ambassador responds to call by Evert and Navratilova to keep women's tennis out of Saudi Arabia

Earlier DU thread: Evert & Navratilova: We didn't help build women's tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia

_________________________________________________

Source: Associated Press

Ambassador responds to call by Evert and Navratilova to keep women’s tennis out of Saudi Arabia

Updated 6:10 PM EST, January 30, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States said Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova relied on “outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our culture” in urging the women’s tennis tour to avoid holding its season-ending tournament in the kingdom.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 Tuesday in response to an op-ed piece by Evert and 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 said. “Sports should not be used as a weapon to advance personal bias or agendas ... or punish a society that is eager to embrace tennis and help celebrate and grow the sport.”

Tennis has been consumed lately by the debate over whether the sport should follow golf and others in making deals with Saudi Arabia, where rights groups say women continue to face discrimination in most aspects of family life and homosexuality is a major taboo, as it is in much of the rest of the Middle East.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-ambassador-tennis-evert-navratilova-61ca6fb820fa10f4121ba8dc0fc75207