Ons Jabeur Faces the Heat After Supporting Tennis in Saudi Arabia as Judiciary Sentences Woman Fitness Instructor to 11 Years of Jail

In a news that concerns the tennis world indirectly, a woman in Saudi Arabia named Manahel al-Otaibi has been arrested and sentenced to prison for 11 years. The alleged ‘crime’ of that woman was promoting women’s rights through her social media pages. The news has come just after the WTA signed a 3-year deal with the Saudi Arabia government to host the WTA finals in the country. With questions on the Middle Eastern country’s human rights being raised again, Ons Jabeur is the biggest name in women’s tennis from that region who is facing flak for supporting tennis in Saudi previously.

Manahel al-Otaibi has been a social media influencer and fitness instructor in Saudi, who promotes progressive thoughts and displays her love for various activities such as traveling, art, yoga, and fitness. All of these are social indicators of a young, independent, confident, vibrant and empowered woman. Unfortunately for her, she lives in a country that’s intolerant of such things.

The Saudi government orchestrated an anti-terrorism court and sentenced her to 11 years in prison. Just for the modern clothes she wore and her stance on women, Manahel al-Otaibi will have to suffer the consequences. Her outlook on life and her choices were designated as “terrorist offenses” by the judicial court, as per The Guardian. She violated Saudi’s anti-terrorism laws.

So the controversial question once again rises – Why is tennis yielding to the Saudi Arabian temptation?

Legends like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova have previously protested many times against such a move, but the WTA has assured them that Saudi Arabia won’t restrict anyone from practicing their belief and rights, including homosexuality. But now, al-Otaibi’s arrest thickens that same discussion.

Noted tennis journalist and Naomi Osaka’s biographer Ben Rothenberg too took to X and slammed the WTA for this move. He was always disappointed by ATP but is now let down by WTA. This is where Ons Jabeur’s stance and the criticism she faces for it becomes interesting.

Jabeur is a die-hard supporter of equal rights and equal pay and wants to end the gender bias altogether. Recently, she even slammed European tournaments for still indirectly leaning more towards men’s tennis than women’s. This is despite tennis being one of the forerunners in gender neutrality and equal pay.

European tournaments tend to bridge the gap between genders during tournaments. But Jabeur believes there is still a long way to go.

After beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-4 at the Madrid Open 2024 round of 16, Jabeur spoke to a journalist about her beliefs on the same.

“We deserve better… I haven’t seen one woman’s match on TV in Madrid, not even a Spanish woman,” said Jabeur. She continued, “I feel like definitely tennis is one of the sports that l’m proud to play in as a woman. I feel like we have a long way, especially here in Madrid and in Rome, in Europe in general. I feel like they need to respect women more and they need to respect how we are playing.

“Some things we feel it, and yeah, in maybe like a lot of things in practices, the way they treat women here and men, they’re completely different. Maybe people from outside, they don’t see it. Yeah, I’m definitely one of the people that I want to speak up. I really enjoy watching women’s tennis, enjoy watching women’s sports in general. I think we deserve better. It’s not like we are not doing any effort and we are asking for more than what we deserve, for sure.”

The pay dispute between men and women was the biggest worry for a long time in the professional space. While tennis did try and sort it out, other aspects like respect and equal treatment remain lopsided between both genders according to her.

“I feel as a woman playing, for me inspiring a whole new generation, for example, here in Spain, I would love to go to the hotel and open the TV and see a woman’s tennis match. I haven’t seen once one tennis match of a woman. All they’re showing — obviously I understand there is a lot of Spanish playing, but asking for one match? Even the female Spanish players they are not even showing. For me it’s really frustrating to see that. How can you inspire young girls without showing any match in that? Then they say, Okay, men’s tennis is better,” Jabeur added.

While Jabeur’s strong and bright views on gender inequality were mostly laudatory, her support for tennis in Saudi Arabia fetched her more criticism than brownie points from the public. According to Sports Business Journal, this is what Ons Jabeur had to say in a separate media interaction –

“I know some people maybe here have a different opinion about Saudi. I do understand, but I wish they could be open about hearing what I have to say or what women there have to say. I think it’s a great opportunity,” Jabeur said in February 2024.

While Jabeur made that statement before the arrest of Manahel al-Otaibi, similar problems in Saudi Arabia have persisted for a long time. Therefore, her support for such a stance puts her in the firing line of those who support women’s rights.

Manahel Al-Otaibi’s Arrest Reminiscent of Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder

On October 2 2018, a daylight murder took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Jamal Khashoggi, an American journalist who constantly opposed the stance of the Saudi government and their butchering of human rights, died at the hands of Saudi agents.

This was a huge setback in maintaining and upholding the right to speak and democracy and freedom at large. Khashoggi died because he spoke his voice and he made sense of it, largely covering human rights issues in the country.

While tennis players like Ons Jabeur have made no comments about this in the past, it remained a heavy subject on everyone’s minds. These sort of incidents once again bring the onus back on top tennis players when it comes to yielding to Saudi Arabia’s big bucks. Many media personnel across the world have called the country’s sports investment strategy as ‘sportswashing’.

If the ATP and WTA Tours get combined as part of Saudi Arabia’s proposed $2 billion deal to takeover tennis, there could be more tennis played in the country. While the money on offer is expected to be greater for players that could change the sport forever, questions on the sport’s integrity could be raised heavily too.