After Paula Badosa & Magda Linette spark controversy in China with racially insensitive comments, WTA shoots big warnings to players
Notably, while there was no mention of any specific incident, social media posts by Paula Badosa and Magda Linette sparked controversies during the Asian swing earlier this year.
While Badosa’s coach had posted a picture of her pulling her eyes back with chopsticks, Linette had shared a photograph from her trip to Wuhan, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, that she captioned “the virus database has been updated.” Both players have since taken down the posts and were asked to apologize.
TrendingThe WTA top boss’ email holds extra significance when seen in light of these events. Archer said countries host the players and executives at “considerable effort and expense” before urging everyone to respect local culture. The warning against “distasteful content” followed in the email, the contents of which were shared by The i. Parts of the email read,
“Tournaments and countries host us as their guests at considerable effort and expense, and it is of absolute importance to respect the local culture of the regions we compete in, all of which make our global Tour a success.”
“Distasteful content of any kind (such as images, references, text, video) relating to the culture, history, or hurtful stereotypes of a group of people or a region is inconsistent with the values the WTA represents and will not be tolerated.”
“Such harmful actions generate negative coverage” – WTA CEO amid row over players’ social media posts
WTA CEO Portia Archer in the email also said “harmful actions” generate negative coverage and reflect poorly not only on the players but also on the governing body and the sport as a whole.
Adding that there was no place for such content on the WTA Tour, she went on to list a series of risks that it might pose to the players as well as the tournaments. She wrote (via The i),
“Not only do such harmful actions generate negative coverage and reflect poorly for the athlete, but they also impact women’s professional tennis as a whole, along with having negative effects on the hard-working team and staff that organize WTA events.”
“These actions can also pose a risk around the entire tournament, with security, transport, and other areas all put in potential jeopardy. There is no place for this in the WTA.”
The Asian swing is played toward the end of the season, with China hosting a majority of the big tournaments, including two WTA 1000 events.
