The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has a long history of advocating for women’s rights in sports and education. However, it recently announced that the women’s flagship finals will be held in Saudi Arabia for the next three years. This decision has been met with criticism from former Grand Slam champions Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova, who have expressed concerns about the treatment of women and LGBT people in the kingdom.
Women’s tennis in Saudi Arabia is part of a larger trend known as sportswashing, where popular sports are used to improve the country’s image. The Saudi Public Investment Fund has been involved in various sporting ventures, including partnerships with the ATP and hosting events such as the FIFA World Cup and Formula One racing. Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about serious human rights violations associated with these events, but there has been no response from the fund.
Saudi Arabia’s track record on women’s rights is concerning, with the country recently passing a new law that enshrines male guardianship over women. The law discriminates against women in various areas of life and requires them to obey their husbands upon marriage. Women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia continue to face repression, with many being imprisoned for speaking out against the government.
Under Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s rule, Saudi Arabia has seen a deterioration in its human rights record, including mass executions and killings of migrants at the Saudi-Yemen border. Critics of the government are often jailed and tortured, and civil society is repressed. Saudi Arabia does not have independent media freedom, and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi five years ago highlighted the dangers faced by dissenting voices.
Despite these concerns, none of the global tennis bodies have adopted human rights policies or conducted due diligence to identify risks of contributing to human rights violations. Human Rights Watch has called on the WTA to provide information on their due diligence process before awarding the finals to Saudi Arabia. The organization has not yet responded to these questions.
Hosting the women’s tennis finals in Saudi Arabia could be a positive step if done under the right circumstances. This includes having a human rights policy in place, consulting with women professional players, ensuring the safety of players, fans, and journalists advocating for LGBT rights, and allowing all Saudi women to freely advocate for their own human rights. Until these conditions are met, holding the finals in Saudi Arabia risks contributing to the repression of women and LGBT people in the country.
