Can I also say that Morgan’s history of behaviour in this regards seems to be pretty close to the definition of stalking. he gets obsessed with a young woman (often described as a “feud” in the press) has a huge platform which he then  abuses to get women to concede to him, placate him, and pretend they are his friends, just to get him to stop.

Weird and **** creepy.

Pier’s Morgan isn’t happy – I support Osaka on principle

Also, these press conferences are the ones straight after a match when an exhausted player is asked meaningless questions about the match that has just happened, with a few misogynistic/racist questions chucked in for good measure. Does anyone get anything of value from them? The world has moved on and hopefully this will start the authorities to start thinking about a system that works better

Also a note to those who think she should just suck it up and do what she’s told: you’re on the same side of this debate as Piers Morgan

It’s the way she’s gone about it I have most issue with, you can’t sign a contract and then decide later you don’t like some of the terms of that contract, decide you therefore won’t fulfil them and then not expect the other party to consider the contract has been broken.

I don’t know if there is a player’s union and what the general feeling is amongst the other player’s but if there’s a consensus that something needs to change about the post-match press conferences then the way to do it is via their union, not individually (and if they don’t have a player’s union then they should form one).

If the issue is limited to one or a handful of players then they obviously don’t have much negotiating power and the affected players need to decide (if no concessions are made by the tournament organisers) whether they attend those tournaments under those conditions or not (and if they do attend whether they choose to make an issue out of it like quite a few NFL & NBA players do by giving single word answers etc. to questions to show their disdain but still meet their contractual requirements).

Until such a time as the media coverage and specifically post-match press conferences are deemed not important by the decision makers/sponsors then unfortunate as it is you do have to make a choice between playing in those tournaments (and risking your mental health by attending the press conferences) or not playing (and likely losing personal sponsors/income) it’s a crap situation and anyone in it has my sympathies but it doesn’t mean I wholeheartedly support them just changing contractual terms as they see fit.

It’s the way she’s gone about it I have most issue with, you can’t sign a contract and then decide later you don’t like some of the terms of that contract, decide you therefore won’t fulfil them and then not expect the other party to consider the contract has been broken.

I’d have sympathy with that if I thought players in any way could even debate what is and what is not in the contract. I would also gently suggest that her feelings around this go a little further than “don’t like” – why is mental health considered any less than physical?

Wonder if the post match interviews are so ‘important’ to media becuase its basically all some channels (ie BBC etc.) can show of a player as they’re not allowed actual footage of them playing because <insert paying customer> has got exclusive rights to the matches?

I’ve not seen it mentioned anywhere but would be interested to know how much media coaching pro’s get. I’d almost see it as a given that any promising young athlete would be given support and guidance from a very early age on exactly how to handle media and PR either to further their brand or support their well-being.

decide you therefore won’t fulfil them and then not expect the other party to consider the contract has been broken.

AFAIK, Ms Osaka hasn’t protested about the French Open decision, and chose to withdraw after they fined her.

There’s certainly a reasonable argument for getting rid of the post-game press conference, but if all her rivals are forced to sit through them she’d be getting an unfair advantage if she can skip them.

Or all her rivals could show some unity and also refuse to attend / attend and refuse to say anything. The organisers might then remember why the event exists.

It’s the way she’s gone about it I have most issue with, you can’t sign a contract and then decide later you don’t like some of the terms of that contract, decide you therefore won’t fulfil them and then not expect the other party to consider the contract has been broken.

Lots of people enter contracts and then change their mind, especially if the terms are generic rather that negotiated for them personally. I don’t think she is necessarily saying the other party shouldn’t regard it as breach of contract; rather she’s “big enough” that she can just say “I don’t need to do this, if you want the best tennis players you’ve got my number, in the meantime I’ll be working out how to spend last year’s winnings”

Wonder if the post match interviews are so ‘important’ to media becuase its basically all some channels (ie BBC etc.) can show of a player as they’re not allowed actual footage of them playing because <insert paying customer> has got exclusive rights to the matches?

You might be right – but that’s not the player’s fault it’s the event/media’s fault for not negotiating more sensible arrangments.

The organisers might then remember why the event exists.

To make lots of money through brand sponsorship, if we’re being realistic.

I get that this is a contractual issue but I thought the whole point of the Grand Slam tournaments was to attract the best players. Ive never understood why the tournament are so wedded to the post match press conference, I do my best to avoid them. When I have caught them they seem utterly pointless with journalists asking dumb questions and getting answers that are as dull and predictable as the question.

The fact that Morgan thinks she is wrong just proves she is correct and having read his attempt at an article it makes her case brilliantly

MoreCashThanDash

To make lots of money through brand sponsorship, if we’re being realistic.

To be honest, for the grand slam side of house it’s more the prestige, they don’t have to think of sponsorship or press coverage, they are at the top of the tree, the normal tournaments have to worry about sponsors, marketing, etc, but for the French Open, Wimbeldon, US and Australian Opens they choose the sponsors. This one is all about playing for a major, at Roland Garros, people who haven’t a clue about tennis tend to know it’s happening and where it’s happening.

It’s the same in golf, which funnily enough don’t tend to force the participants to do media, quite a few wander off, whilst a lot of them do the media, as it’s good for the tournament, they’ve even brought in the new Player Impact Fund to give more money to those at the top who bring in the best coverage/media/etc, quite a bit of cash over the year as well!

Just remember that Osaka withdrew from the French Open. She could have continued and would have been fined each round. Her choice. She knew that by entering, that she was expected to attend post-match interviews. No surprise. And she did not attend the interview after winning a match.

This is top level elite professional sport. For women it is the highest paid sport in which they compete. Being visible, responding to the media is part of the job. Yes journalists ask pointless questions. But they to have a job to do (fill column inches).

Note that every other participant at the French Open manages to do this.

I get that this is a contractual issue but I thought the whole point of the Grand Slam tournaments was to attract the best players.

Exactly. If you’re so wedded to the post-match interview that you’re prepared to exclude your second seed, then perhaps your priorities are a bit **** up. And I’m sure the tournament sponsors would rather that more people were tuning in to watch Osaka vs whoever in the semis rather than the lower-ranked player who replaces her.

Besides, Rolland Garros’ mocking, bullying tweet from the day before (since deleted) automatically puts them on the wrong side of the argument, much as having Piers on your side does.

Poor Piers, he really can’t cope with women of colour who don’t do what they’re told by the establishment.

No one pays money to listen to cliched tropes, its all about the game.

I want to watch Osaka playing, not hear how she prepared for a match, how many jobbies she has pre match.

Note that every other participant at the French Open manages to do this.

Maybe she will be the start of the avalanche that brings it to an end (or major reform). Perhaps she is the only one rich enough to say – **** this $2M if I win isn’t worth this in my life.

To make lots of money through brand sponsorship, if we’re being realistic.

Perhaps, but perhaps the elite players will question it and then force it to be about the sport.

Marina Hyde, as usual, nails it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/01/sport-athletes-mental-health-tennis-naomi-osaka

So you’re the best carpenter in a bespoke furniture place, every week you go and collect some wood from a wood yard. But one day you have a small crash on the way and it affects you in a way that you don’t like driving in certain places any more and tell the boss you’re not comfortable with that bit of the job and don’t want to do it any more.

Do you get the sack or do they just get some one else to go and fetch the wood?

So you’re the best carpenter in a bespoke furniture place, every week you go and collect some wood from a wood yard. But one day you have a small crash on the way and it affects you in a way that you don’t like driving in certain places any more and tell the boss you’re not comfortable with that bit of the job and don’t want to do it any more.

Do you get the sack or do they just get some one else to go and fetch the wood?

What you’ve described there is team sport though. So in that instance you don’t put up the keeper that let the ball go through their legs or the striker that missed an open goal.

If you’re a sole trading carpenter you have to pull on your big boy pants and get the wood yourself or decide you’re going to get another job.

It’s something that probably needs a more detailed discussion but it should be done en-masse rather than individually and probably with more than a day or twos notice of a major event.

If you’re a sole trading carpenter you have to pull on your big boy pants and get the wood yourself or decide you’re going to get another job.

Or get the wood delivered or pay someone else to pick it up for you…

Its not a great analogy as I doubt there’s many carpenters earning $50M, who could easily pay a spokesperson to deal with this shit but they insist on seeing the main act.

It’s something that probably needs a more detailed discussion but it should be done en-masse rather than individually and probably with more than a day or twos notice of a major event.

You’ve no idea if she’s been pushing that for months behind the scenes, perhaps even getting “we wouldn’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable” speeches… which way has had the biggest impact?

It’s not “a job” but if it were and one of my staff said, I’m not going to that meeting with that customer anymore (that has happened) I’d be interested to know why and what we could do to make sure it didn’t affect their replacement or other customers. Could they word it better – probably but most of my 23 yr old staff aren’t masters of diplomacy.

Marina Hyde, as usual, nails it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/01/sport-athletes-mental-health-tennis-naomi-osaka

She didn’t, not this time. She hasn’t addressed the fact that if they let Osaka off the press conferences, all the rest of the players are going to demand the same treatment. And given Roland Garros no doubt has contractual obligations with the media, what would happen then?

I’m not sure what the answer is, but given the immense amount of cash TV pours into the sport it’s unsurprising they demand access to the stars. And I suspect that if you want to earn a multi-million salary from sport you’ll just have to suck it up.

Its not a great analogy

Maybe not, but the point I was trying to make was that the thing she has trouble doing isn’t actually a tennis players main job. So maybe sometimes a coach could take over for a bit….

She didn’t, not this time

I disagree, their silence on that tosser Djokovic and Zverev too?. Rules for the boys.

I disagree, their silence on that tosser Djokovic and Zverev too?. Rules for the boys.

The behaviour of those two is irrelevant to this particular case: neither of them has done anything that might jeopardise TV coverage or the event itself. Have any women in recent times been banned from competing for behaviour outside of competition? Have any men refused to talk to the press after competing, and been allowed to continue? Rules for the boys may exist, but I find it far more likely the main motive is cash rather than sexism.

We’ll agree to disagree.

If you’re a sole trading carpenter you have to pull on your big boy pants and get the wood yourself or decide you’re going to get another job.

A quite insensitive spin on “MTFU”.

But there’s a 3rd option with anxieties which is “I enjoy the majority of this so much I’ll try to get through the small bit I don’t like” and often that is a paradox fail. For example its well documented on here I’m quite scared of flying, but as much as I’ve refused flights or not travelled I have also travelled to many places around the world.

She may have done / have been doing that until perhaps something – maybe the media attention maybe something else – has triggered anxiety or specifically her fight or flight mechanism into “flight” on this occasion whereby she’s been able to manage it at other times. It takes a bit more understanding and empathy than to use vocabulary alluding to “MTFU” or “you did it before you can do it again” to someone who suffers from anxiety.

If you’re a sole trading carpenter you have to pull on your big boy pants and get the wood yourself or decide you’re going to get another job

yeah, TBH I’d have expected better too 😐

Apart from a very few top exponents, in-competition real(ish) time press conferences are platitude-ridden bullshit fests at the best of times IMO and I’d merrily never listen to one again (from any sport). Journalists know it and probably they learn to twist the knife a bit, just to get something like an honest response – because nothing sells like a flash of an angry or upset superstar

Maybe, notwithstanding Naomi’s personal problems with the established “format”, the organizers of these events need to understand that the method based in the mid-late 70s of sycophantic/ hostile interviews actually doesn’t work any more and they’d be better off with a different way of doing things. And maybe they’d get more press, positive results, real engagement, etc etc

Looks like she is getting more support (correctly) than from many of this post

Japanese athletes and sponsors voice support for Naomi Osaka

It’s a tricky one – ultimately I think there’s conflicting pressure due to contractual obligations as others have said.

Event sponsors (both match and separate press conference sponsors) will have contractual terms about all athletes appearing in the press conferences, the media reach of the conference, the number of social media ‘cuts’ of the conference produced, assets released to sponsors for their own marketing etc.

Then there will be contracts to the media companies buying rights to air the event and the press conference, as well as different layers of distribution rights of that footage.

The athlete’s value to their individual sponsors is typically calculated by their agent and a combination of results, bonuses and media reach – so they too have a contractual demand.

Professional sport at the top level is a commercial enterprise largely funded by sponsorship and rights, so the media/sponsorship/branded partnership goes hand in hand with the “doing” for an athlete as its the source of their income.

So yeah, it’s a tough situation. She obviously doesn’t want to do it, but in not doing so, puts not only her own but a whole host of wider commercial and sponsorship obligations at risk. It’s messy, and not as simple as “she should be able to just get on with playing”.

Looks like she is getting more support (correctly) than from many of this post

I think you’re misunderstanding the points people are making. I have sympathy for professional athletes and the pressure they are under, but they set out to be public figures and they are expected to make media appearances to foster the sport and be role models for fans. That will always be a balancing act between the media being patsies who just copy and paste media releases and over-aggressive journalists prying into things that should be personal. Here’s the views of some other top athletes, who are supportive but also accepting that media appearances are part of the job.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/01/tennis/naomi-osaka-french-open-withdrawal-reaction-spt-intl/index.html

During her post-match media conference 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams said: “The only thing I feel is that I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it’s like. Like I said, I’ve been in those positions.”
However, other tennis stars have said media duties are part and parcel of the job.
“Press and players and the tournaments comes hand-in-hand,” two-time grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka said. “I think it’s very important in developing our sport, in promoting our sport.”
She added that there were moments when the media needed to be more empathetic.
World No. 5 Sofia Kenin acknowledged the pressures of being a young athlete in the spotlight, but said, “This is what you signed up for.”
“This is sport. There’s expectations from the outside, sponsors and everyone. You just have to somehow manage it,” Kenin added.

Addressing that post ^ from hols2; she doesn’t have to accept it. She can negotiate with her sponsors around her mental issues. Perhaps her coach could perform an interview, perhaps she could take 15 mins off court to prepare post match.

Like employment these establishments have a duty of care to the athlete but read back over these pages and see how many times “money” is spoken of or implied. That’s were the real issue is and if sponsors can’t find ways to generate money other than putting pressure on an athletes mental health, don’t work with them. I applaud anyone for sticking up for their values not to have their health compromised on that basis.

I imagine (and this is a punt here), she’ll have spoken to her own sponsors – however, the event and press conference sponsors contract with the event, so are less likely to be supportive, or will want a pro-rata reduction in investment for her being missing from the press conference, which the organisers wouldn’t want, so tried to enforce it to protect their own revenue lines.

This is of course an educated guess, but one from experience of the sponsorship world.

Realistically, for all this to change, the organisers need to come up with a new value proposition for sponsors to deliver the same media reach, asset volume and licensing/syndication opportunity, to maintain the sponsorship revenue they need as a business (and make no mistake, professional sport is a business above all else). But given sponsorship cycles are typically 3 years, that’s not going to happen quickly.

It’s the way she’s gone about it I have most issue with, you can’t sign a contract and then decide later you don’t like some of the terms of that contract, decide you therefore won’t fulfil them and then not expect the other party to consider the contract has been broken.

Have you had sight of the contract she signed? Or are you just making stuff up?

… but they set out to be public figures…

D’you know, I’m not sure if they do, I think it’s a side effect of the job.

… and they are expected to make media appearances to foster the sport and be role models for fans.

I mentioned this before but, while I agree that that is currently the case, I think there’s a big argument as to whether it should be.

D’you know, I’m not sure if they do, I think it’s a side effect of the job.

If you enter your name for a top-tier professional sporting tournament that is televised around the world and pays huge prize money, you are volunteering yourself as a public figure. That doesn’t mean that your entire private life is fair game for the media, but it does mean that doing some media appearances is to be expected.

Have you had sight of the contract she signed? Or are you just making stuff up?

Not sure what your point is here? No, I haven’t seen the actual contract but given it’s widely reported she is not following her contractual obligations and she herself isn’t challenging that point then I think it’s safe to assume there are contractual terms involved and it’s not just a tradition etc. that’s being broken? Or do you have some other wonderful insight…?

Like employment these establishments have a duty of care to the athlete but read back over these pages and see how many times “money” is spoken of or implied. That’s were the real issue is and if sponsors can’t find ways to generate money other than putting pressure on an athletes mental health, don’t work with them.

I’m not quite sure why you’re making such a big deal about it being her mental health here – exactly the same pressue is there for her physical health, too. As an elite tennis player she needs to be able to both play well and handle the media circus surrounding it. And yes, it’s the money talking. She’s earning millions and unfortunately for her part of her job is dealing with the press.

 She’s earning millions and unfortunately for her part of her job is dealing with the press.

Only because she’s forced to by the WTA, who also forced their players in the 70’s to smoke Rothmans cigarettes (because that was part of the contract in the 1970’s), and no-one thinks that’s a good idea any more. A quick look about reveals that dozens of other sportsmen and women either 1. don’t do press, or 2. give one word answers to questions, to meet the very basic requirements so her stance is hardly unique, which begs the question, why do they feel the need to do that, and is there something we could do about it? As Kelvin has pointed out, if Boris can evade the press whenever he feels like it or gets the questions before hand, why is it part of Osaka’s (or any sports persons) job to be interviewed on live TV with no preparation?

Nearly every one on this thread has said that they regard post match interviews as dull and sterile, and frankly they are, Osaka having to speak to journalists after round 1 when she’s smashed a bottom 200 ranked player into bits is hardly going to be a revelatory exposition on tennis technique.

I’m pretty certain that the organisors could work something out to both the players and sponsors satisfaction. There will be players who’d rather not have to speak for an hour after every match, and there will be some that quite enjoy it…If I was a sponsor, I’d rather not be tainted by association with an organistion so rigid the only option they’ve come up with is fining the no2 ranked player.

Was thinking about this again….

In the 21st century I wonder if there should be some sort of commitment for players to keep a video diary whilst involved in the tournament, posted into a tournament portal. One post before and after every match. Bonus scheme on how many hits it gets so the more interesting you are the more hits will come your way. Code of conduct about what can’t say etc.

I’m more likely to watch that that another identikit clip of an athlete sat behind a desk being asked dull questions. Would also take the pressure off the athlete to perform at a specific time to suit a room of waiting journos.