Saudi Arabia set to offer ‘triple’ prize money of around $15,000,000 in their pursuit of bringing the WTA Finals to Riyadh

Saudi Arabia has announced $15 Million in cash prizes if the country gets the hosting rights.

Saudi Arabia set to offer ‘triple’ prize money of around $15,000,000 in their pursuit of bringing the WTA Finals to Riyadh

WTA soon to go bankrupt as per reports (Images via Tennis Majors/X/@TheTennisLetter)

The Women’s Tennis Association(WTA) has been considering moving the season-end WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia for a while now. The possibility of the Finals being held in the Middle Eastern country has enraged several fans and women in tennis. Recently, Saudi Arabia declared that they’d be offering a whooping $15 Million Dollars in prize money.

The amount being offered as prize money is three times the prize offered at the previous edition of the WTA Finals. Over the last few months, several players have voiced their concerns on the issue.

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The Middle Eastern country has also assured WTA that they will pay an additional $8.64 Million as a staging fee. The WTA might consider this a good deal since last year, the prize money was $4.32 Million. The WTA Finals were held in Fort Worth back in 2021. The Saudi state, in recent years, has been accused of “sports-washing”. Many Tennis fans have asked questions and posed their concerns that the country holds as a potential WTA Finals host.

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WTA’s prospects have generated some mixed responses as well. While Ons Jabeur recently said that she’ll look forward to the opportunity, Tennis legend Chris Evert has advised the WTA on several occasions to deny Saudi Arabia’s offers.“We haven’t made any decisions or entered in to any formal negotiations. They’re talking to a lot of people and a lot of different sports right now. We’re evaluating like everybody else,” WTA’s CEO and Chairperson Steve Simon revealed.

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Czech to host the WTA finals?

NEXT GEN ATP Finals(Source: Perfect Tennis)
NEXT GEN ATP Finals(Source: Perfect Tennis)

The debate around which country should host the WTA Finals has intensified over the last week. According to John Wertheim of the Tennis Channel, Prague has put in a bid for the WTA Finals hosting rights, which matches Saudi Arabia’s bid. However, the fans are divided since it is unclear if Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed in the country.

The Czech Republic has taken a tough stance on Russia and Belarus after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. “Banning Russians and Belarusians would mean the Czechs are no better morally than the Saudis,” a fan posted. 

The WTA has called for a board meeting on Tuesday to discuss the hosting rights issue for the WTA Finals. There is heavy pressure on the WTA to make the right decision. Previously, ATP had announced that the Next-GEN ATP finals will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 2023-2027.

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