RIYADH — Women’s Tennis Association chief executive officer Portia Archer has defended staging the WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia in her first major address to the media since starting the role in July.
“We often play in environments and in countries that have different customs, different cultures, and in some cases different value systems than I might have personally or that the WTA may have as an organisation based in the United States,” Archer said in a news conference before play commences on Saturday 2 November.
“We’ve never actually had any issues with freedom of expression, at least not that I’m aware of,” Archer added of previous events held in countries with similar policies to Saudi Arabia.
When pressed on saying that the WTA’s values do not necessarily need to align with the countries hosting their tournaments, Archer said that she misspoke.
“My intention was to really say that we respect the values, even if they differ from other countries that we find ourselves in and compete in.”
In April this year, the WTA announced a three-year deal with the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) to host the Tour Finals in Riyadh, with a prize pool of over $15million (£11.6m). Archer on Friday said that this deal had been made in consultation with WTA players, and…
