In recent years, senior officials in Saudi Arabia have been trying to change the kingdom's image to a more positive one, they are doing this, among other things, by injecting particularly large sums of money into sports, whether it is Formula 1, whose race in the city of Jeddah has already become a tradition, or whether it is in football, There the Saudis buy teams and players non-stop.
With the highlight of course being the success in convincing the countries of the world to let them host the 2034 World Cup in the country.
Novak Djokovic's tribute to LeBron James // AusOpen
But it seems that all these things did not satisfy the appetite of the heads of the kingdom, and now they mark a new target: the tennis industry.
Just last week, a big storm arose in the industry following the fact that the legendary tennis player Rafael Nadal became the country's tennis ambassador, and it seems that the next storm is on the way.
According to the British "Telegraph", the chairman of the board of directors of the ATP tour, Andrea Gaudenzi, is expected to arrive in Riyadh this week and definitively sign the sponsorship agreement under which the PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) logo will appear on the sides of the court in four major tournaments. In addition, as part of the meeting, the broadcasting rights of the nine Masters 1000 events are expected to be sold to the Saudis.
Rafael Nadal.
caused a great stir, photo: AFP
And if all this is not enough, the chairman of the WTA (Women's Tennis Tour) Steve Simon is also approaching an agreement under which the year-end tournament final of the tour will be held in the country. In addition, there are also several reports and there are reports that talks have begun between the country and the Yael International Tennis Association to host the Billy G Cup Yin King.
And as in football, the investments in tennis do not pass without protests, the heads of the British Tennis Association rejected a proposal that the tournaments they organize in Queens and Eastbourne will be part of those tournaments that will receive the Saudi sponsor.
When, in addition, tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, to the chairman of the WAT, protested the intention to hold the tournament there: "It does not correspond to the values of women's tennis, especially in light of the state of women's rights in the country."
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Novak Djokovic.
Are the Saudis on their way to take over his industry?, Photo: EPA
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