Indian Wells CEO disparages female tennis players and forfeits his position.
Over the weekend, Raymond Moore, CEO of Indian Wells in California—home of the BNP Paribas Open—put his foot in his mouth when speaking with the media about the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). His comments were less than flattering and flat out sexist.
Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore's remarks this morning not likely to delight the WTA, its players, or fans: pic.twitter.com/56zSV0SK2X
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) March 20, 2016
Naturally, social media responded accordingly. Moore was lambasted as his comments were dutifully shared on Twitter and Facebook. Insinuating that talented and groundbreaking female tennis players such as Serena and Venus Williams, Chris Everett, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King “rode on the coattails of men” is not only incredibly insulting, it’s factually inaccurate. King was instrumental in fighting for higher pay and equal treatment on the WTA circuit, which brought her a lot of criticism and scrutiny, while Navratilova is one of the most highly decorated tennis players in history—men or women. And what the Williams sisters have done for the game of tennis over the past two decades is unmatched (pun fully intended).
Navratilova told Sports Illustrated how she felt about it over e-mail:
“It was really disheartening to see Ray Moore offer the extremely prejudiced and very old fashioned statements regarding women tennis players. We have made it this far on our own, without help from male players, and will continue to do so in the future. It would be hard to imagine any women want to go and play at Indian Wells if Moore stays as the tournament director.”
While King had this to say in regards to Moore’s comments:
Disappointed in #RaymondMoore comments. He is wrong on so many levels. Every player, especially the top players, contribute to our success
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) March 20, 2016
Other female athletes outside of the WTA also came forward to publicly condemn Moore’s statements. WNBA players Swin Cash and Tina Charles released a statement through the New York Liberty:
“It's extremely disappointing hearing Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore’s comments and knowing sentiments like this are still voiced in 2016. As we approach our 20th year of the Liberty, we are asking everyone to support women everywhere, not tear them down. We stand with our fellow athletes of the Women’s Tennis Association, and we invite Raymond Moore and the other “Raymond Moore’s of the world” to reevaluate their stereotypes and biases. In the meantime, we’ll continue to be leaders on and off of the court.”
In this day and age, the WTA and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) need to work together to promote the game of tennis and speak out against sexism and gender inequality. But it seems that the older generation of men who run the tennis world still have some major catching up to do.
Moore has since resigned.
Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21