Rafael Nadal lost immunity | Relief

February 18, 2024, 8:59 am.

The assumption that a great athlete is by definition a great person is one of the greatest evils that an important sector of sports journalism has caused and continues to cause to society. And to the athlete himself. May be World championworld record holder or the best in history in any discipline and at the same time be an ordinary person, even Bad person.

However: Rafael Nadal is an outstanding athlete and a very good person, of that I have no doubt after 20 years of following him at the forefront in all types of tournaments, cities and circumstances. And no, don’t compare him to Nelson Mandela confirm that Nadal is a very good person. And don’t deny it.

However (II): 2024 is the year Rafael Nadal lost immunity. Immunity, invulnerability, protection, exemption, release, exemption from liability, prerogative, privilege: all these terms explain, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE), what the word “immunity” means and implies.

For two decades, Nadal has nurtured and raised Spain’s self-esteem to remarkable levels. Not just for what he did on the courts, not just for what he won and how he won it: the left-hander from Manacor was a reflection of Spain’s success on the world’s biggest stages, the Spaniard impeccable behavior, a diverse Spanish language that has seamlessly transitioned from Catalan in its complex Mallorcan version and Manacori subversion. A Spaniard who, like many others, stumbled over English. This brought him even closer.

Nadal, of course, had his own opinions on non-sports matters, although he rarely expressed them. And he sold an image and philosophy based on effort and sacrifice to achieve everyone’s success and respect. Except for the harsh and aggressive criticism from the singer. Ivan Ferreiro “It took us many years to achieve that when we feel bad, we don’t have to go to work, so that this millionaire, in order to get a medal, tells us that he had a broken leg,” Nadal’s image was impeccable in communication with the public.

Was Tounspoken sanity: Spain should be proud of Nadal, grateful that he was Spanish. For many people unprecedented in their careers, this is no longer the case. And it is astonishing that Nadal would give up his well-deserved immunity in Mecca, that he would burn it on such a metaphorical and complex altar.

To make matters worse, the player himself says he failed to communicate the agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation, with whom he signed up as an ambassador. “I don’t think I disappointed people. I think people don’t have information about things. And they say: “Now Rafa has also sold himself to money.”

“You understand?” – Ana Pastor asked him in a very frank interview on “La Sexta”. “Of course yes. There was a mistake in the statement, I should have come out and explained it from the beginning. But since I know how society works, I’m not new to this. Let the storm pass. Will I convince them or not? Will everyone like it? “Of course not”.

Toni Nadal, his uncle and coach for most of his career, can sum it up in one word: hypocrisy. “There is hypocrisy,” Toni Nadal told Relevo. “And AVE to Mecca, which Spain sold to Saudi Arabia? What about journalism and coverage of the Spanish Super Cup? Why don’t they say that they don’t write about Saudi Arabia, that they are conducting an informative boycott about what “does” happen there?”

Journalism not reporting what is happening is a denial of journalism, a decision that makes no sense. But Toni Nadal sticks to his guns. He, like his nephew, believes that the best Spanish athlete of all time’s relationship with a repressive, medieval-style regime can still bear noble fruits in many ways.

“It is logical that if more foreigners and visitors come to the country, the situation will begin to change. my nephew attracts visitors and tourists“, he asserts, before recalling that in the West, equality between men and women is a recent novelty: “Long ago in Spain, women had to ask men for permission to work.”

Nadal is island conservatives, like many other conservative people. And this is neither bad nor good; in a democracy you can be conservative and liberal, right and left. An ideology, a way of seeing the world, does not make you better than others. It makes you left or right, liberal, conservative or progressive.

But having Saudi Arabia as a sieve, proof of who you are in terms of image, is perhaps even bolder than thinking about winning Roland Garros 14 times. It’s true: Saudi Arabia today is not the same as it was 20 years ago, nor was Spain 50 years ago. But questions remain: Is it worth it, does it make sense, does it make sense to think that in ten to fifteen years we will know the answer?

The President of the Saudi Tennis Federation (yes, she is a woman) is said to be an extraordinary person with great sensitivity, a strong personality and good intentions. How nice it would be if Nadal appeared next to Arij Mutabagani and explained some things to the many people who look at him with contempt today. disappointment and distrustbut also to those who continue to admire him unconditionally.