Reema bint Bandar al-Saud said she was “deeply hurt” by an article published in the Washington Post in which former tennis stars Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova criticised the Women’s Tennis Association for wanting to hold the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, as well as the Saudi money flowing into the sport.
Hurt. The Saudi ambassador to Washington, Reema bint Bandar al-Saud, expressed her disappointment on Tuesday 30th January at the recent criticism by tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova of the Saudi money flowing into the sport. The legends, who each won 18 individual Grand Slam titles and became world tennis reference points, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post last week criticising the Women’s Tennis Association for considering holding the WTA Finals in the Gulf kingdom.
Where it will be held has yet to be decided. But they do not agree that it should be in Saudi Arabia. They cited “gender inequality that remains deeply rooted in Saudi law” and other human rights concerns, including the criminalisation of LGBTQ people, as their arguments and reasons for criticism.
The Saudi ambassador, Reema bint Bandar al-Saud, posted a response on social media. She said she was “deeply hurt” by the article and that it overlooked recent advances for women in Saudi Arabia.
Navratilova and Evert “have turned their backs on the women they inspired and this is beyond disappointing,” Princess Reema wrote.
Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who became first in line to the throne in 2017, Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on women driving, as well as rules on gender segregation in public and the wearing of abayas.
Princess Reema in her response wrote that women “own more than 300,000 businesses, and approximately 25 percent of small and medium-sized emerging companies”, which she said was comparable to the United States.
However, there are some human rights advocates who doubt the depth of the reforms, pointing out that women have been ensnared in a broader campaign of arrests targeting government critics. Precisely, a long-awaited personal status law, presented by Riyadh as “progressive”, has been criticized for containing what Human Rights Watch described as “discriminatory provisions against women concerning marriage, divorce, and decisions about their children”.
Sport is a major component of Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 economic and social reform agenda. While some understand that the initiative has been denounced as an attempt to distract from human rights abuses, Princess Reema, the Saudi ambassador in Washington, said on Tuesday the opposite, as she understands that it was “part of a comprehensive programme to be the best version of ourselves”.
“It is not about you. It is about us,” she wrote in her response. Everything revolves around Saudi Arabia’s attempt to host the best sports competitions. Last year, the kingdom hosted its first ATP Tour event, the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, along with exhibition matches between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka against Ons Jabeur.
It was a success, as the best rackets in the world gathered there. On the other hand, in early January, Rafael Nadal, winner of 22 individual Grand Slam titles on the men’s side, was named ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation.
The world’s biggest oil exporter has also spent huge sums to attract star footballers. It is due to host the World Cup in 2034. It already hosts Formula One and some of the world’s best heavyweight boxing matches have been and will be held in the country.
One of them, in fact, will take place in Riyadh next month. It will be historic, as the heavyweight belts will be unified for the first time in 25 years. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will step into the ring. And they have managed to attract the best golfers in the world.