After questioning the relevance of systematic equal pay between men and women in sports, on Thursday in an interview with the Spanish channel La Sexta, the tennis player came under fire in his country.
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Explanations that don’t work. Asked about the issue of equal pay in sports and his vision of feminism in the show “El Objetivo” on the Spanish television channel La Sexta, on Thursday February 15, Rafael Nadal found himself at the center of a controversy, which has not yet been found. resolution.
What comments from Rafael Nadal were targeted?
Faced with journalist Ana Pastor, the former world number 1 had to justify his new role as ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation, a country where the rights of women and athletes are much more restricted than those of men, before addressing the topic of feminism. “I’m not a hypocrite, I don’t like to say easy things about feminism. For me, we have to give men and women the same investments and the same opportunities. The same wages? No, for what?”retorts the Majorcan, when asked a question.
To the journalist’s restart about the inequality of conditions within the men’s and women’s soccer teams, Rafael Nadal responds: “If you tell me that being a feminist means wanting the same opportunities for both, then I am a feminist. I have a mother, I have a sister.” The Spaniard regrets it by the way, that feminism “withit’s taken to the extreme”. “Equality is not about giving gifts, but about the fact that if, for example, Serena Williams earns more than me, she can earn more”concludes.
Why did it go badly in Spain?
In Spanish society, which is still marked by the long Rubiales affair, the words of Rafael Nadal, who hits the nail on the head when he talks about the conditions of Spanish soccer players, even though they are world champions, are hard to come by. His pronunciation “I have a mother, I have a sister”, repeated 14 times during the interview, it is considered clumsy or even outdated. Spanish diary El País he even devoted an editorial to it on Friday, to address the man with 22 Grand Slams: “Let’s hope he has a gay friend, a black neighbor, and we’d have the all-inclusive package of a not-yet-deconstructed gentleman.”
Reactions are strong in a country where young people are particularly aware of discrimination against women and where a national pact against gender-based violence was adopted in 2017. Spanish journalist Angeles Caballero titled her editorial: “Rafael Nadal, a stranger on the court, an average Spaniard off it”implied that he is a bit macho. “He showed us that his transformation into José Maria Aznar López is 98% complete”the author is angry, comparing him to the former Spanish Prime Minister (1996-2004), the honorary president of the People’s Party, a right-wing Spanish party.
Why do we keep talking about it?
Reactions from civil society and celebrities like Luis Figo caused the Nadal affair to drag on for up to three days after the excerpt was published on the channel’s X account (formerly Twitter). “I think what bothers you the most is that he is free, rich and one of the greatest athletes of all time and he doesn’t need that money to live! This is again what lies behind this false progressivism”he reacted on the former Portuguese footballer of Real Madrid, the club that Rafael Nadal supports, on the forum he published El País.