Ilie Nastase has been the most popular guy on tour recently. During last month’s Fed Cup tie against Britain, Nastase made a racist comment on Serena Williams’ unborn child the day before he was expelled from the Arena after he swore at the GB Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong and Jo Konta.
After these episodes, Nastase is under investigation from the ITF (International Tennis Federation), the Romania had his credential revoked for the WTA events, he will not be invited anymore in Wimbledon, and he was banned from the Roland Garros.
The controversy
Yesterday, everyone was stunned by the fact that Nastase was not only invited to the match, but he was on court for the trophy presentation in occasion of Simona Halep’s win. The Madrid Open is becoming a Romanian affair (nothing wrong with that) as Ion Tiriac is the owner of the event and Simona Halep has won the last two editions. That’s why Ilie was attending the match.
Toprakta son 25 maçta 22 galibiyet alan Halep ve kupası (Seremoni’de cezalı Nastase ve konfeti dikkat çekti) pic.twitter.com/NBYBm3Um5R #MMOPEN
— TenisNot (@TenisNot) May 13, 2017
The WTA CEO is furious about that
WTA CEO Steve Simon wasn’t impressed at all with Nastase’s presence to release the following statement
“It was an exciting final match today, and I heartily congratulate Simona and Kristina for their outstanding display of tennis.
The only shadow cast on the day was Mr. Nastase’s invitation to participate in today’s 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 is both irresponsible and unacceptable of the Madrid Open to bestow him an official role. The Madrid tournament in a Premier-level event and held to the highest standards of professional tennis and leadership which was not reflected today.”
Right or wrong?
| CONTROVERSIAL |
