“My question is why isn’t the richest athlete speaking out about the ITFs her sister is currently playing?” WTA player Tara Moore questions Naomi Osaka


“My question is why isn’t the richest athlete speaking out about the ITFs her sister is currently playing?” WTA player Tara Moore questions Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka

Recently Naomi Osaka was interacting with fans and answering their questions. One of the questions asked was, why doesn’t the WTA work to improve the financial condition of players? Osaka in her answer refused to blame or make WTA accountable for it. In fact, she did not even suggest any changes. Reacting to that answer, Tara Moore felt Osaka could have spoken about the issues faced by players at ITF’s. Osaka is one of the highest paid athletes in the world right now, and has lots of social media followers.

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British player Tara Moore has been part of both the ITF ‘s and the WTA, and is someone who is well aware of the ground realities of the sport. She questioned Osaka’s stand and said how she can not take a stand even though her own sister plays in the ITF’s. Moore is talking about Mari Osaka who is a regular at the ITF circuit.

The ITF’s are the second tier of the WTA, and players are not usually paid much and are forced to play in terrible conditions and below standard infrastructure. 

Naomi Osaka and her stand on social issues 

Naomi Osaka

Osaka has in the past taken a stand on social issues on more than one occasion. In the US Open 2020, which she won, she wore face masks which had the names of victims of police brutality, inscribed on them. She used the US Open platform to raise issues about racial injustice, especially against people of colour.

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In the recent past she has been critical of Yoshiro Mori too. Yoshiro Mori, then the chief planner for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games, drew global outrage for saying that meetings with women “take too long.” Osaka said that young people nowadays have no time for such sexist comments. Not long after, Mori resigned from his position as chief planner.

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