Another moment of complicity

 In less than 20 minutes, coverage of the men's final of the US Open will begin. TV media outlets that are covering the match are being asked not to show (to mute? to cut?) the boos that will be directed at the president of the United States who has decided to accept the invitation of Rolex (who may be trying to curry favor given the tariffs on Switzerland). 

It is the USTA doing the asking, by the way. (Presumably the governing body of American tennis was asked by White House type folks.) I am not surprised. Few probably are. There are not too many sports governing bodies that have a political conscience. (Interesting conversations exist and persist around the WNBA and NBA and how players are leading the way in political stances vs the organizations themselves.)

I truly hope people in attendance know this happening and that people pull out their phones and post--immediately and often. 

Finalist Carlos Alcatraz made some comment about how it is good when presidents attend their countries' Grand Slams. As someone from a country (Spain) that has a painful and violent history with fascism, I was a little surprised. I have not seen if Jannik Sinner (Italy) has made any remarks. 

The USTA agreeing to this request is such cowardice. But potentially a bad business move as well. It is unclear what the organization will do if a media outlet refuses to censor the response to the president's presence. Kick them out for next year's tournament? Tennis is not in such a good place that it can ban media outlets from covering events. I do not see ESPN going against the request of course. But it is possible that non-American coverage will. 

Also--all you athletes being endorsed by Rolex?? This is your chance to say something and do something. 

[There is a long history of sport's complicity and endorsement of fascism which I do not have time to get into here. But I will come back later and add some links. ]


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