‘It’s a man’s decision’: French Open fines player heavily for ‘very difficult for a woman’ remark

NEW DELHI: French Open organizers have fined Paraguayan player Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 65,000 euros, roughly half of his tournament earnings, after he made sexist comments at an umpire following his second-round loss to French teenager Moise Kouame.After losing a grueling five-set match that lasted almost five hours, Vallejo criticized Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho, saying: “This kind of match has to be refereed by a man.” He further added, “It is very difficult for a woman to do that.”French Open director Amelie Mauresmova condemned the remarks and confirmed the hefty fine. “This is clearly unacceptable,” Mauresmo said. “Again, such remarks have no place here. Players who make it to the second round will earn €130,000, making the penalty roughly half of Vallejo’s reward.Vallejo claimed his comments had more to do with crowd control than the referee’s technical ability. He claimed that the spectators strongly supported Kouame and that the official tried to control them. “It has to be decided by a man because it’s a very tough crowd and you need a lot of strength to go against the crowd,” he said.The Paraguayan also accused Kouame of slowing down the game, saying the Frenchman “was taking up a lot of time on many occasions, lying on the floor or stopping”. He added: “And it’s not normal for the crowd to scream for a whole minute without any play.” Vallejo acknowledged that dealing with such situations is difficult, but claimed that atmosphere and officiating played a role in the match.