The board of the UK’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has rejected a proposed sponsorship from the ATP and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the London Telegraph reports. Included in the proposal were two British tournaments, Queen’s and Eastbourne (worth 500 and 250 points, respectively), as well as Masters 1000s in Miami and Madrid.
According to the Telegraph’s “sources close to the talks,” the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which hosts Wimbledon, would not have looked kindly on the deal. Other objectors include former women’s tennis stars Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who deplore the status of women in Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, “four sources with close commercial dealings in Riyadh” tell the Telegraph that tennis is a priority for Saudi Arabia. The country has spent the past year negotiating what the paper calls “multiple potential investments” with “top tennis executives.” One idea is to institute a Masters 1000 tournament in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia was for months negotiating to purchase the aforementioned tournaments in Miami and Madrid, but they could not come to terms with the owner, IMG, a sports, fashion, events and media company that is also a subsidiary of the sports and entertainment company Endeavor.
