THE WOMENโS TENNIS ASSOCIATION has fined the president of the Russian Tennis Federation $25,000 for referring to Venus and Serena Williams as โthe Williams brothersโ.
Shamil Tarpischev made the comments on a television chat show last week:
However, his remarks have been condemned by Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA with Tarpischev - a member of the International Olympic Committee โ receiving a year long suspension on top of his fine.
In a statement on the WTA website, Allaster said:
โThe statements made by Shamil Tarpischev on Russian television with respect to two of the greatest athletes in the history of womenโs tennis are insulting, demeaning and have absolutely no place in our sport.
โSerena Williams and Venus Williams are champions on and off the court โ outstanding human beings, incredible sportswomen and amazing role models who have done so much to inspire women and girls around the world to achieve their dreams.
โThe WTA was founded on the principles of equality, opportunity and respect, and Venus and Serena embody all of these attributes.
โMr. Tarpischevโs statement questioning their gender tarnishes our great game and two of our champions. His derogatory remarks deserve to be condemned and he will be sanctioned.โ
Why is stamp in inverted commas?
Disgraceful conduct by Oโ Driscoll. A fitting end to an underwhelming career.
If your going to troll pls be either:
Funny
Clever
Original
And not just a tool, thereโs a good lad.
And there goes someone with a chronic attention seeking disorder, penny for the pity?? Anyone
Not trolling, sweetheart.
For someone who is heralded as one of the best players ever on the international stage, all he has to show for it is one Grand Slam. If he concentrated more on his rugby & less on being the poor mans David Beckham, he might be worthy of the adulation he gets from you sheep.
Still, at least he has the โBODโ brand to concentrate on now. LOL.
Jamie, agreed on BOD being an attention seeker. He was lucky not to get a straight red for that today.
You are actually aware that you need 15 players on a rugby team, itโs not an individual sport.
George Best was crap too I suppose. Never even played in a World Cup !
Exactly, 15 players on a team until one of them gets sin-binned for violent conduct. If BOD kept his head & tried to win the game for his country we wouldnโt even be having this discussion.
Also, youโre surely not saying that itโs been BOD & 14 no-hopers for the past decade? You can extend my earlier comment about an underwhelming career to the rest of the so-called โgolden generationโ.
BTW, George Best retired at 27 & was seen as a wasted talent. Not the best comparison to make.
Great lad
3 Heineken Cups in 4 years. Hardly underwhelming figures. The man is class and if our country sees another like him in the short years ahead weโll be extremely lucky.
Underwhelming on the INTERNATIONAL stage Nicky. He left us down today, plain & simple.
We shouldnโt have to rely on a late Scotland try to save us from the wooden spoon.
Donโt where youโre getting โNickyโ from.
Regardless, your comment said โunderwhelming careerโ and I was responding directly to that.
Yes he made a mistake today but that is not the issue I was commenting on.
That should read โdonโt know whereโ
Iโm genuinely struggling to comprehend how you could possibly call the career one of the greatest players of the professional era as โunderwhelmingโ. Heโs renowned as being one of the greatest because his career has been the total opposite of that
Jaysus Nikki,
It was obvious I was talking about his international career. Itโs not 100% certain heโs going to retire from Leinster yet.
So the issue you were commenting on is the one youโve decided you want to talk about, not the one I was raising. Thatโs not the way things work, you should try & stay on topic. :-)
Ciaran,
Whats he got to show for his career in the green shirt? One grand slam.
Underwhelming return for โone of the greatest players of the professional era.โ
Give it a rest eh? You said โcareerโ. Itโs not 100% heโs retired from anywhere!!!
Nikki? If you want personal terms stop hiding behind a pseudo name and be open about who you are. Like I do.
Imagine a footballer did that, absolutely disgraceful, nothing will be said about it though because its a sainted rugby player and we all know theyโre paragons of virtue and sportsmanship, not like those horrible football louts
Should have been a straight Red โ the intend was there !
10 posts on ODriscolls stamp โ wonder how many if it was another player ???