British tennis legend Andy Murray says it is ‘unfortunate’ that Saudi Arabia’s influence on sports is growing around the world.
Tennis is the latest sport linked with investment from the Middle-Eastern country after a merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour sent shockwaves through men’s professional golf.
There have been ‘positive’ talks between Andrea Gaudenzi – chief of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) about a potential partnership.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in various sports has attracted criticism and some have accused the nation of sportswashing due to their poor human rights record and subsequent desire to reshape their global image.
Ahead of his opening match at Wimbledon, Murray was asked about previous comments he made in which he said that he would not play in Saudi Arabia.
‘Well, yeah, I mean, in the past when we were asked to go and play there, we were asked to go and play exhibition tournaments,’ Murray said.
‘If they become, like, major tournaments on the tour, it becomes a slightly different question, and it’s a difficult one, really, based on how the tour and the rankings and everything work, how important they are to get into other events and stuff.
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