Martina Navratilova won’t be attending the WTA Finals, scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia. She has made it clear, along with Chris Evert, that her stance on moving the WTA Finals to the Middle East hasn’t changed, which is why she won’t do the job of a pundit during the event.
Earlier in April, the WTA announced the move to the Middle East, inviting mixed reactions from the tennis fraternity. Navratilova, a vocal supporter of LGBT and women’s rights, took a brutal dig at the organizers, saying they were just one step away from conducting the tennis event in North Korea.
Martina Navratilova (Image via Imago)
We’re going to Saudi Arabia, which is about as big a change as you can make, except for maybe going to North Korea.Martina Navratilova said, as per The Daily Mirror
Navratilova pointed out that going to Saudi is a political thing even if some players don’t want to involve themselves in political discussions. She also observed that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, is getting anything that he wants.
Going to Saudi is about as political as you can get. Welcome to sport, are political. Sport has been at the forefront of social change. I don’t see how anything happens there without the blessing of MBS (Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud). He decides what goes and what doesn’t.Martina Navratilova added
Even Martina Navratilova is uncertain about the effect of conducting the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia
The purpose of taking the WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia is to make positive changes there. Those who advocate for it opined that the event would be helpful for the girls and women out there.
Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, will host the WTA Finals for three years (from 2024 to 2026). Even Martina Navratilova, though a staunch critic of the move, is uncertain of the result, and can’t foresee how effective the WTA Finals can be in the Middle East.
We’re a bit egotistical to think we can make a difference, but who knows? Maybe this is a good thing.Martina Navratilova said
Back in January, Navratilova and Chris Evert, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post, criticized WTA for leaving the game at the hands of Saudi Arabia. They claimed they did everything to build the WTA Tour in 1973, whose principle was to empower women in a male-dominated world. Evert and Navratilova also claimed that the WTA Tour is now leaving itself at risk of exploitation by Saudi Arabia.
