MADRID: The head of the WTA has publicly condemned the organizers of the Madrid Open for the inclusion of Ilie Nastase in the trophy ceremony for the Women’s final on Saturday.
Nastase is provisionally suspended from ITF events following a controversial weekend at a recent Fed Club clash. During an April tie between Great Britain and Romania, Nastase was accused of racism after making a controversial concerning Serena Williams’ unborn baby.
“Let’s see what color it has. Chocolate with milk?” He was heard saying when speculating about the baby’s skin color,.
The day after he engaged in a heated confrontation with British Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong and player Johanna Konta. The former world No.1 was heard swearing to the two and was eventually removed from the tie. Nastase was the captain of the Romanian team.
In wake of the recent events, WTA CEO Steve Simon has blasted Nastase’s inclusion presence in the tournament on Saturday. He played a part in the trophy ceremony for the women’s final, which was won by Simona Halep.
“The only shadow of that day (at the Madrid Open) was Mr Nastase’s invitation to participate in the award ceremony. He had no place on court today. He is currently under a provisional suspension by the ITF for his prior offensive actions and we revoked his credential privileges at WTA events while the investigation is being completed. It was both irrelevant and unacceptable of the Madrid Open to bestow him an official role. The Madrid tournament is a premier-level event and held to the highest standards or professional tennis and leadership which were not reflected today.” Simon said in a statement.
The inclusion of Merit Nastase in Madrid comes as no surprise. The owner of the tournament is Ion Țiriac, a former businessman and tennis player. During the Fed Cup, he was a public supporter of the controversial figure and criticized the behavior of the British team.
The Madrid Open is yet to publicly respond to Simon’s statement.
