There is no peace for Berrettini: they immediately lashed out at him.
He is not the first to have done so. And, perhaps, as things have turned out, he won’t even be the last. Saudi Arabia, it is now clear, is pursuing by all means the goal of carving out a space of its own in the tennis landscape. It has opened itself up to Western culture through sports, and the news that has circulated on the web in the past few hours is, for the avoidance of doubt, clear proof of this.
Yeah, because in addition to grabbing the Next Gen Atp Finals, which have already been taking place on their soil since last year, the Saudis have also put their “hands” on players from the Old Continent. After hosting the cream of the crop of tennis players in Riyadh at the Six Kings Slam, the Arabs have secured an exceptional testimonial: we are talking about our own Matteo Berrettini, who on Monday made it known that he is Pif’s new ambassador.
This acronym stands for Public Investment Found, that is, the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, which is, moreover, one of the largest in the world, with its pharaonic assets. Good news, in and of itself, except that the people on social media, and with it a good chunk of fans, did not take the news regarding the Roman champion too well.
Berrettini under indictment: a choice that no one shared
The reason is to be found in the controversy surrounding the long-standing issue of human rights, which has always been brought up when talking about Saudi Arabia. And for which, earlier this year, Rafael Nadal himself had also paid a heavy price, becoming an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.
It is not liked that Berrettini is an ambassador of Pif, then, although many read, behind this move, the intent to clean up the country’s reputation by passing precisely through sports. Which could then become, in this sense, a vehicle for improving the situation from the point of view of human rights. Whether this will be the case or not we will know in a few years, but, in the meantime, no one would seem to have supported Berrettini’s decision. Who, after a brief respite, apparently already over, is in the crosshairs again.
The people on social media have not sent them a message, indeed. At the bottom of the video posted to announce the news, the most disparate comments were posted, some of them even a bit ruthless, so to speak. Some users pointed out to him that there is no bragging about this partnership, someone else launched into allusions that for money one would do anything. Others, finally, ironically congratulated Matteo on this new, but already controversial, status as Pif’s ambassador. And something tells us that we are just at the beginning of a huge controversy.
