|
Agassi questions use of models as ball-girls
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-21 09:24
A senior Spanish government official on Tuesday asked the organizers of the
Madrid Masters tennis tournament to stop using models as ball-girls, saying it
was sexist.
A Hugo Boss model
picks up balls during the Madrid's Masters Tennis tournament. Models
replaced the regular ball girls in the match between Albert Costa and
Irakli Labadze. [Reuters] | Top player Andre
Agassi also weighed in on the controversial decision to swap volunteer young
fans for the 19 to 28-year-old professionals, saying he was not convinced it was
the way to promote tennis.
The models needed two weeks of training for their tasks of picking up stray
balls and handing towels to players. They will work most of the televised
matches at the week-long tournament.
Secretary for Equality, Soledad Murillo, has sent a protest letter to the
tournament director, a major sponsor and the mayor of Madrid in which she says
the spirit of the tournament is being undermined.
"Soledad Murillo ... considers that this move contributes to building a
clearly discriminatory vision of women, as simple objects of decoration and
entertainment," the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, where Murillo works,
said in a statement.
"Traditionally this work is done by the male and female students of tennis
academies, which is an example of equal treatment ... that does not distort the
real essence of sporting competition."
A Hugo Boss model
throws a ball to Andre Agassi during the Agassi-Mirnyi match at the Madrid
Masters tennis tournament in Madrid, October 19, 2004.
[Reuters] |
Agassi successfully kept his eye
on the ball - and not the models' legs - as he won through Tuesday in a match
where young, lithe catwalk queens served as ball girls at the US$2.4 million
Madrid Masters.
The promotion gimmick, which has brought the tournament onto the world's
non-sporting radar screens in a big way, was not a distraction to second seed
Agassi as he triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in a second round battle with Max Mirnyi
of Belarus.
The girls, all professional models in their late teens and early 20s, did the
job at the Rockodromo for the second night in succession at a showcase match.
But the 34-year-old Agassi may have had an unfair advantage, married as he is
to Steffi Graf, whose long legs helped to propel her to dominance in the women's
game.
Agassi still had to measure his words when describing his reaction to the
night.
"It was difficult, to say the least, to concentrate on the ball," joked the
American veteran.
"But I suppose I had an advantage, I'm used to playing with my wife."
The American idol, 2002 tournament winner, was thereafter at a loss to go on
in detail, but did produce his own form of a fashion tip.
"The (long, slit) skirts look like they're a little difficult to run in - I
think they need to be shorter maybe," offered Agassi.
As he switched out of showman mode, Agassi said that the jury is still out on
the move to employ models.
"I need some time to let it absorb. It's important for our sport to
understand its product clearly... but I'm not quite convinced it's part of our
product."
The arrival of the models, who wear skirts and tight tops emblazoned with the
name of a sponsor, had already stirred up controversy over whether they were
trivializing the game - and might distract players.
"I think it is important for our sport to understand its product clearly, and
I'm not quite convinced this is part of our product," Agassi told reporters
after a match in which the umpire had to remind a confused ball-girl to return
to the side of the net.
"It was difficult, to say the least, to concentrate on the ball, but I
suppose I had an advantage - I'm used to playing with my wife (Steffi Graf)," he
added.
In her letter, Murillo said she regretted that the sexist use of images of
women was becoming more widespread. Many Spanish women still consider their
society is macho.
"(Murillo) calls for this treatment, which has become customary in fashion
and publicity, not to be transferred to the sporting arena," the statement said.
Tournament organizers were not immediately available to comment.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top Sports
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
