A Spanish writer’s harsh criticism of Nadal for his landing in Saudi Arabia: “Don’t go, Rafa”

Away from the action on the circuit as he recovers from a micro muscle tear sustained at the start of his season in Brisbane, his first game after a year out, Rafael Nadal was at the center of controversy when he was announced as the new ambassador of the on Monday Saudi Arabia Tennis Federation, where in the future he plans to install a new headquarters for his academy. The Spaniard said his goal is to “promote tennis and offer more opportunities to new generations of Saudi players”. But he became the target of criticism, which condemned his new partnership with a country with a long history of human rights abuses.

From his followers on social networks to well-known Spanish figures, they have raised their voices to question his relations with the Saudi regime and express their disappointment at the election of someone who is a living legend of racketeering and a global idol, not only for his sporting career, but also for his human qualities (which many have even dared to question).

One of the opinions that made the most noise in the Old Continent was that of the journalist and writer Manuel Jaboisthan in his column for the newspaper Village titled “Don’t go, Rafa” He asks: “What drives someone like him to announce an agreement with Saudi Arabia?” And he concludes: “It’s money, it’s business”.

After photographing a couple of transgressions committed by the government of that country and some rules of the conservative Saudi regime, Jabois assures that Nadal – “considered one of the greatest athletes in history and someone who extraordinarily protects what he does cannot be won either with racket nor with money: the affection of millions of fans, his extraordinary reputation as an exemplary tennis player, of impeccable behavior, supportive, generous, attentive” – ​​he is “an informed man, he knows these things.

“At what point do you not believe that he, or Jon RahmOR ChristianOR Karim BenzemaAre they not perhaps happy instruments of legitimization of the aspirations of the third dictatorship in the world that applies the death penalty the most, one of the countries that most stifles freedom of expression, sexual freedom and human rights? If it’s not money, why choose that country and not another?” she reflects.

And he closes: “The Spanish tennis player, probably immersed in his last year on the circuit, didn’t need this. (…) This relationship leaves him in a delicate position.”

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has gained ground and importance in the global sports business, attracting stars and events from disciplines as diverse as football, motorsports, golf and, now, tennis, among others. From that country they assure that the objective is to diversify an economy that today depends exclusively on the production and export of oil. However, in the Western world, they argue that this “progress” hides an attempt to wash their image. And for those who hold this opinion, Nadal has become a new tool of the Saudi regime.