The Women’s Tennis Association announced the creation of a new maternity support initiative for its players Thursday, with the funds coming directly from the Saudi Arabian government.
With the PIF (Public Investment Fund) WTA Maternity Fund, the organizations says its players will “for the first time receive paid maternity leave up to 12 months, and have access to grants for fertility treatments to build families, as well as other benefits.”
Benefits will reportedly be offered to more than 320 eligible players. The WTA says it is the first time in women’s sports that “an extensive range of maternity benefits are being made available to self employed athletes.”
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, a WTA Players’ Council representative, welcomed the fund, via the WRA:
“I’m honored to introduce this program, driven by players, and made possible with the support of PIF and the WTA. This marks the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family. Ensuring that programs like this exist has been a personal mission of mine, and I’m excited to see the lasting impact it will have for generations to come.”
The program is another step in the WTA’s partnership with a government known around the world for its oppression of women and the LGBTQ community. The WTA’s rankings are also sponsored by the PIF, as are the ATP’s, and the WTA Tour Finals were held last last year in Riyadh, with PIF money helping increase the prize pool to more than $15 million. The event will return to Riyadh in 2025 and 2026.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly criticized the WTA’s Saudi relationship. Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navritalova have been similarly critical, while WTA founder Billie Jean King, who would face imprisonment and worse in Saudi Arabia as an open lesbian, called the issue a “hard” one.
WTA chief executive Portia Archer, who said in the WTA release that she was “delighted” by the new partnership, dodged questions about that partner in an interview on Monday, via The Athletic:
“Questions about Saudi society are really not questions for me or the WTA. They’re questions for the Saudis to answer.”
The release did mention how the PIF and the WTA have a “shared ambition to grow women’s professional tennis, inspire more women and girls around the world to take up the game, and help address some of the challenges faced by female athletes.”
Of course, the WTA is not alone in accepting Saudi money. Far more funds have flowed into the sport of golf via its breakaway LIV Golf tour, and prominent soccer matches, boxing matches, MMA matches, horse races and Formula 1 races have all been held in the country in recent years.
In this case, however, the money is explicitly going toward helping female athletes in an area where support was notably lacking.
