Badosa Receives Stern Warning From WTA After Racism Controversy
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The WTA has reportedly warned Paula Badosa and other players about the future consequences of not respecting the cultures of the countries they play in.
This year's Asian swing on the WTA Tour featured several tournaments, including the season's final two WTA 1000 tournaments: the China Open in Beijing and the Wuhan Open, which was played for the first time in five years.
Iga Swiatek was one player who missed the entire Asian swing. Fans only found out last week that her absence was caused by testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine and receiving a provisional suspension on September 12th.
Swiatek successfully appealed the provisional ban and was subsequently only given a one-month suspension, but that stressful ordeal meant she could not compete during the Asian swing.
Coco Gauff won the China Open, and Aryna Sabalenka secured the Wuhan Open title for a third time. Both tournaments saw superb tennis, but there were also two significant controversies.
After reaching the China Open semifinal, Badosa's coach, Pol Toledo, shared pictures of her time in Beijing. One of those included the Spaniard using chopsticks to squint her eyes, something often done to insult Asian people.
Badosa was accused of racism by several furious online fans. The former world No. 2 apologized afterward, stating she did not realize that was something often done in a racist and promised to learn from the incident.
However, Badosa changed her tune a few weeks later. She accused those criticizing her of being bullies after she jokingly asked her coach not to post anything that would get her in trouble.
The other controversy involved Magda Linette. Many were left stunned when the Pole posted a picture on social media with the caption "the virus database has been updated" in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan.
China is one of the WTA Tour's most significant funders, and the organization is undoubtedly terrified of upsetting its authoritarian government in case it removes tournaments from the schedule. Therefore, as per the iNews, the WTA sent an e-mail telling players not to be culturally insensitive.
"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."
"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."
Financial considerations will always be pivotal to the WTA's decisions. That is why Saudi Arabia hosted this year's WTA Finals.
