Thoughts on tennis: Nadal, Djokovic must break silence

Are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
being used as sporting pawns?

The boldfaced headline in Thursday’s Times of London newspaper spoke loudly: “Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal warned over Saudi Arabia event.” In a story by tennis correspondent Stuart Fraser, he wrote that the two tennis superstars “have been warned that their participation in a lucrative exhibition in Saudi Arabia in December could be used used by the country’s controversial regime as ‘a form of sportswashing.’”

While Saudi Arabia has always been viewed as a prominent destination for conducting global big business, tennis – I have learned – is part of a growing Saudi sports propaganda program. Mind you, Saudi Arabia has little or no history when it comes to professional sports. Besides tennis, it has shown recent interest in bringing motor racing, boxing, football – even pro wrestling – to the Arab empire.

Now is the time for Nadal and Djokovic, currently ranked No.1 and No. 2 in the world, to use their global popularity to bring attention to the “truly appalling” human rights record of Saudi Arabia, warns Amnesty International. The world human rights organization made its plea in the aftermath of the disappearance and murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who for the past year had been writing global op-ed pieces for the Washington Post while living in exile in the United States. Many of Khashoggi’s writings were critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi royal family.

A day after news about Khashoggi’s disappearance surfaced, a tennis exhibition match billed as the King Salman Tennis Championship in Jeddah, between Nadal and Djokovic, was announced. The financially attractive, end-of-the-year exhibition scheduled for December 22, would see each participant make at least $1 million. Under the present circumstances, it would seem to fly in the face of their humanitarian outlook.

Since the news about Khashoggi emerged, dozens of global business and media conglomerates have withdrawn from attending an upcoming international conference in Riyadh, billed as the Future Investment Initiative – among them: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Viacom and the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim.

In a recent sports blog for The Guardian of London, sports writer Kevin Mitchell notes “the two players appear to have remained deaf to growing clamor over seeming endorsement of Saudi Arabia.” He calls both Nadal and Djokovic “men of conscience and integrity,” but warms they “continue to risk their good name by accepting an invitation to play in a meaningless exhibition in Saudi Arabia, a regime under critical scrutiny for the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

(Since the publication of Mitchell’s blog, early Saturday Saudi Arabia confirmed that Khashoggi was dead. He was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.)

Indeed, I agree with Mitchell. Perhaps, it’s as if both players are waiting for the international embarrassment to pass. Yet, I have to wonder if either is oblivious to the growing criticism that’s gathering around them. Or, simply, are they ignorant of the seriousnous of the greater issue?

“Neither is a good look for athletes who have always been aware of their wider responsibilities,” writes Mitchell. After all, both have foundations that help disadvantaged youth through tennis. Plus, Nadal was widely seen – thanks to social media – helping clear debris in his native Majorca after recent floods hit the Spanish island, and Djokovic has been active in campaigning for flood relief in his home country of Serbia. Bottom line: both Nadal and Djokovic are decent gentlemen.

In hindsight, one wonders whatever possessed Nadal and Djokovic to agree to play in the Saudi exhibition in the first place? Certainly, they don’t need the money. Although December exhibitions in various corners of the world are common and bring the sport to cities not already on the ATP World Tour schedule, the tennis season is already much too long. Pulling out now would make a statement about how the world should view Saudi Arabia’s behavior and pattern of state-sanctioned killing.

I would hate to see Nadal and Djokovic continue to be used as sporting pawns – displayed before a world-wide audience – flaunted by the Saudi government to distract us from their murderous regime. They need to break their silence now.