When Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur won the Madrid Open last year and became the first Arab and African woman in history to win a WTA 1000 tournament, no one in the Middle East or North Africa could watch any of her matches on television.
When she stormed to the Rome final the following week, her fans in the Arab world either resorted to following her live scores, or found illegal streams to watch her matches online. Still nothing on TV.
A few months later, Mayar Sherif stunned top-five player Maria Sakkari in the Parma final to become the first Egyptian to win a WTA title. Those matches, too, were nowhere to be seen on any TV screen across the Arab region.
By the end of the year, Jabeur made further history by becoming the first Tunisian, Arab or North African player to qualify for the prestigious season-closing WTA Finals.
She was ranked No 2 in the world, pulling off one unprecedented feat after the other, but no TV channel in the region felt the urge to buy the rights to air WTA matches and showcase Jabeur’s history-making campaign.
A deal between the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and beIN Sports for the Mena rights ended at the start of last year. It was never renewed and those rights have not been acquired since.
With the women’s tour featuring two top-40 Arab players in Jabeur and Sherif, not having a rights deal in place for the Mena region is, quite simply, a disgrace.
“It’s a shame. It’s really frustrating. Are we really that bad to [not] show us on TV?” Jabeur told The National in an interview at Wimbledon last week.
“You have someone from an Arab country making history, for the first time ever and you think that’s not a good enough product? There is a lot of mystery in there. I don’t have all the facts. But it’s definitely frustrating for me.”
Ons Jabeur makes history in Madrid
BeIN refused to make an official statement when asked why their women’s tennis coverage is now limited to the Grand Slams - which negotiate their own rights are not run by the WTA or ATP - and the Billie Jean King Cup.
There are five WTA tournaments taking place in the Middle East and North Africa – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Monastir, and Rabat – and those tournaments have had to negotiate their own one-off rights deals due to the lack of a proper agreement covering the whole season for the region.
It is understood that the WTA has been trying to get a fairer value for their broadcast rights and it seems beIN is not willing to pay the suggested sum. For some reason, ATP rights are worth the money but women’s tennis is not worthy of those same airwaves, even though it is the women’s tour that is witnessing the biggest success ever accomplished by an Arab player in the history of the sport.
“The beIN deal ran to term, they haven’t renewed, we hope that they do in the future,” WTA CEO Steve Simon told The National in an interview in February.
“But there are parts in the world where obviously those broadcast agreements, we have to get people to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk; sign up and start covering these events.
“We’ve had a good relationship, I think we’ve delivered and we’ll continue to. They haven’t run away from us, they’re not mad at us, so clearly they’ve got some business reasons that they decided not to do it.
“We need to get them to step back up because we now have, for example in this region, we’ve got Abu Dhabi, you’ve got Doha, you’ve got Dubai, you’ve got Monastir … there may be more that will come as a result of that, which is terrific. And we want to be in all these different places in the world, that’s very important to us.”
Apparently, a Saudi Arabian channel was interested in acquiring the WTA Mena rights but the deal never came to fruition.
WTA Player Council member Jessica Pegula spoke during Wimbledon about the need for the women’s tour to get its money’s worth when it comes to selling its TV rights, but players’ agents – who are thinking of the individual players they represent rather than the big picture – mostly just want their clients on television worldwide and don’t really care about how much the tour is making from such deals.
“I think it's one of those things where clearly the market, the TV, they're not paying us the same as the men. It's just not there,” said the fourth-ranked Pegula.
“So I think this is just a way where we can initiate that, initiate what we think we should be getting paid, which would help with prize money and stuff like that, especially at tournaments.”
The problem with the Mena region missing out on airing WTA matches is that it feeds into the myth that women’s tennis is not as interesting as the men’s. The fact is, if women’s sport is not being shown on television and isn’t getting the same exposure as men’s sport, then how will people know if it’s worth watching?
“People are already judging women’s tennis matches without even watching one single match,” Jabeur said. “Some people are saying, ‘It’s boring’, but how do they know? Have they even watched? I’m not asking for a special privilege or just give us money because we are women. I’m just saying, give us a chance, watch us, and you can see that we’re good at what we’re doing.”
It’s unclear who is to blame for this situation. Is the WTA asking for too much money? Are broadcasters in the region refusing to place any sort of value on women’s tennis? Either way, it is a situation that has been grossly mismanaged and one that requires immediate attention.
Yes, you can watch Jabeur and Sherif at Wimbledon, the US Open, Roland Garros and the Australian Open. But the women’s tour is much more than the four majors and these women are breaking barriers week in, week out.
It’s time for broadcasters to step up and realise this is a moment in sports history that deserves to be witnessed by Arabs across the region.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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Japan
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Canada
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Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Rating: 5/5
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
