By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Tennis’ pursuit of Saudi dollars doesn’t make sense for Daria Kasatkina.
Asked her reaction to reports both the ATP and WTA are finalizing negotiations for Saudi Arabia to host pro events, Kasatkina said money talks, but she doesn’t agree with the message tennis will be sending taking Saudi dollars given the Kingdom’s record on human rights violations.
Kasatkina, who came out as gay last July, suggested Saudi Arabia’s record on women’s rights and LGBT rights makes it a “tough condition” for tennis, particularly women’s tennis, to accept the nation’s financial backing.
Kasatkina joins Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Chrissie Evert, who both opposed Saudi Arabia buying a stake in tennis in an ESPN Zoom call with the media last week. Evert called it “sports washing.”
Same sex activity for both men and women is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
“Many issues concerning this country. Honestly, tough to talk about,” Kasatkina said after her 6-0, 6-2 Wimbledon opening-round win over Jodi Burrage on Centre Court. “It’s easier for the men because they feel pretty good there, let’s say. We don’t feel the same way.
“So it’s going to be, let’s say, money talks in our world right now. For me, I don’t think that everything is about the money. Unfortunately not everything is dependent just on us, and particularly me, for example. So it’s in the hands of the bigger people, unfortunately.”
The PGA Tour recently announced its plan to merge with Saudi-sponsored LIV Golf. It’s the latest sports venture the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, has tapped in moves critics call “sport washing”—an attempt to obscure Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations and connection to the 9/11 terrorist attacks with high profile sporting investments.
Human Dignity Trust, an organization that “uses the law to defend the rights of LGBT people globally,” has condemned Saudi Arabia for “criminalizing same-sex sexual activity between men and between women.”
“Due to the opacity of Saudi Arabia law enforcement, it is not possible to provide accurate estimates of the number of arrests, prosecutions, and executions [of gay people],” Human Dignity Trust said in a statement. “There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including murder, assault, harassment, and the denial of basic rights and services.”
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