Big new report by me at BOUNCES: Uncovering proof of how Saudi organizers paid local laborers to fill seats in a previously-empty arena at last year's NextGen ATP Finals in Jeddah. Read and subscribe here: benrothenberg.com/p/atp-tennis-s…
Famous journalist makes eye-opening claim about tennis state in Saudi Arabia, just days after completion of Six Kings Slam
ATPFriday, 25 October 2024 at 19:20
Famous tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg makes an eye-opening
claim about the state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, just days after the completion
of the Six Kings Slam. The Middle Eastern has recently shown a lot of interest
in investing in tennis. It is because of this reason, for the first time this
year, the WTA Finals will be organised in Riyadh.
Before that, the Saudi tennis authorities managed to
organise an exhibition event featuring some of the biggest names in men’s
tennis with the title of Six Kings Slam. The tournament featured world number
one Italy’s Jannik Sinner, number two-ranked Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Serbia’s
legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic and former world number one Rafael Nadal.
Just days after the completion of the event, famous tennis
journalist Rothenberg, in a post on his official account on the social media
platform X—previously known as Twitter, made an eye-opening revelation about
the state of affairs of tennis in Saudi Arabia. He wrote that according to a
source based in the country, he has been informed that the tennis arena during
the Next ATP Gen tournament last year was filled by labourers who were paid to
sit there and watch tennis. He stated that according to his source, every labour
who sat in the arena was paid $27 to watch four hours of tennis.
"On the last day of the 2023 NextGen ATP Finals, Fahd
(Rothenberg's contact) was one of around 700 local laborers who joined a
WhatsApp group that offered a work proposition: 100 Saudi riyals (about US $27)
for four hours of attendance at a tennis match later that day," he wrote.
Tennis is not the only sport where Saudi Arabia has invested
in the recent past. They invested heavily in football by buying English Premier
League outfit Newcastle United. After that, they initiated a new football
league in the country called the Saudi Pro League, where some of the best
players from all over the world were signed. Recently, Saudi Arabia invested
heavily in golf as well which led to the merger of Liv Golf and PGA Tour.
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