Rafael Nadal’s role as tennis ambassador for Saudi Arabia includes, among other things, visiting the country annually.
A tennis legend Rafael Nadal has been appointed ambassador of the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation. Nadal’s role includes visiting the country every year and “planning the development of boys and girls in the sport and increasing interest in tennis among the country’s youth.” There are also plans to open Nadal’s tennis academy in Saudi Arabia.
Nadal recently visited the Junior tennis clinic in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. His new role was announced in this context.
After the news came out, Nadal has received a lot of criticism. He is considered to be involved in “sports washing”, i.e. using sports to improve the country’s reputation.
The human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is weak. For example, the position of women and minorities is bad. However, there are plenty of oil resources and recently the country has invested heavily in sports.
Many top soccer players have moved to play in the Saudi Arabian league. In turn, several top names in golf have switched to the LIV tour financed by Saudi Arabia. The 2034 FIFA World Cup is going to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is becoming increasingly involved in top tennis as well. The Young Stars Next Gen final tournament was played last fall in Saudi Arabia, and the country is looking for more tournaments. Saudi Arabia is also interested in organizing the women’s season-ending WTA final tournament.
Many tennis followers have been disappointed that Nadal, who has earned well over 100 million euros in prize money alone, is now planning to make money from Saudi Arabia’s marketing.
– This is an incredibly big disappointment from Rafa. Unforgivable, reporter Neil McMahon wrote in X.
– I understand that the infiltration of the Saudis into tennis and all sports is inevitable, but doing active PR for the administration is something else entirely, founder of Power Plays, which focuses on women’s sports Lindsay Giggs stated.
Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam tournaments. He returned at the beginning of the year from a break from competition that lasted almost a year, which was caused by hip surgery.
However, Nadal had to withdraw from the ongoing Australian Open. He has said that 2024 will likely be his last on the tennis tour.
– Everywhere you look in Saudi Arabia, you see growth and development, and I’m excited to be a part of it. I still continue to play because I love it, but besides that I want to help the sport grow around the world, Nadal said in the association’s press release.