“They will kill tennis’ integrity” – Andrea Gaudenzi and ATP receives flak from fans following reported ‘big money’ deal with Saudi Arabia for future events
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi confirms on having 'positive' discussion regarding Saudi - ATP financial partnership
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Andrea Gaudenzi (Credits: Financial Times)
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the ATP tour, represented by chairman Andrea Gaudenzi are currently in talks about potential investment into the pro tennis circuit. The news comes to fans all over the world as yet another step taken by Saudi Arabia towards completely changing the sports industry as we know it.
The ATP chairman said he had “positive negotiations” with Saudi’s PIF and a few other investors. He aims to increase expenditure in various sports departments and businesses, including tournament infrastructure, technology and so on.
“You have to preserve something which is almost sacred, the rules of the game,” Gaudenzi told the Financial Times in an interview to mark his re-election as chair of the ATP Tour for another three years. “This is not a video game; this is not a movie.”
Gaudenzi emphasized that no matter the investors’ motives, the integrity of the sport as a whole should not tarnish. He also warned that outside investors must “stick to respecting the history of the sport and the product, working with the current stakeholder rather than against”.
However, the idea of a potential financial partnership between Saudi and the ATP did not go down well with the fans. Twitter users all across the world reacted to the shocking news.
Saudi – ATP co-investment venture news causes outrage among fans
Tennis fans were quick to express their outrage on Twitter, with many condemning the move to partner with Saudi, a nation infamous for its human rights abuses and inferior treatment of women.
The sudden increase of Saudi’s involvement in sports affairs has led to people dubbing their operation as ‘sportswashing‘ – a move wherein they make huge amounts of investments into sports and aid in development to divert people away from their poor human rights record and/or corruption scandals.
Interestingly, the move comes right after the PIF agreed to a merger with the PGA tour after a long time of trying to set up a parallel tour of their own in the form of LIV Golf.
It is worth noting that a few tournaments organized by Saudi Authorities already exist on tour. The best example is the ATP 500 at Dubai Championships, which takes place after the Australian Open. Another notable tournament is the Diriyah Cup, an exhibition tournament held in Saudi Arabia.
How will the financial investment by Saudis change the tour? In what manner can we expect Saudi’s direct involvement in the tennis world to influence it? We will only be able to tell once we see it for ourselves.
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Ritvik Malhotra
(1085 Articles Published)