The Open Comunidad de Madrid, an ATP Challenger 75, experienced tense moments this Tuesday, with Jordanian player Abdullah Selbayh requesting police intervention.
The Madrid Grand Prix, taking place at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, was the scene of incidents requiring police intervention after Jordanian tennis player Abdullah Selbayh was subjected to racist insults and threats from bettors in the stands.
The episode occurred during the first-round match of the men’s draw, which pitted Selbayh against Hungarian Zsombor Piros. A group of individuals began uttering racist insults and threats, even making allusions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after confusing the Jordanian flag with the Palestinian flag.
The tennis player, who trains at Rafael Nadal’s Academy, requested police intervention, which resulted in the arrest of one of the aggressors.
The tournament organizers have already expressed regret for the incident, reaffirming their commitment to sportsmanship, but admitted the difficulty in preventing these situations due to limitations in available legal resources and tools. It should be noted that harassment by bettors is not a new problem.
Last year, the experienced Aravane Rezai even interrupted a match to demand action against the insults she was receiving.
