The Association of Professional Tennis Athletes (PTPA) in which co -founder is Novak Djokoviche filed a lawsuit against the administrative bodies of the sport, accusing them of antithetical practices and indifference to players’ well -being.
The war in the world tennis has just begun! Novak Djokovic’s PTPA has announced that after years of good faith in the reform of the sport, it was forced to move legally against the administrative bodies.
The informal trade union body created by Nole in 2019 with Canadian Wesk Pospsil in order to represent athletes and athletes, who are in the first 500,000 of the world rankings, announced its decision to sue the administrative bodies!
And this is because of the lawsuits are Men’s ATP, WTA Women, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The reasoning behind the decision is about combating the “corrupt, illegal and abusive system” of the sport, which operates against athletes.
Indeed, lawsuits were filed at the same time in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
“Players demand the same rights, protections and fair treatment for which athletes have competed and won in other major sports -such as NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, NWSL, international football and international cricket,” said a statement by PTPA.
PTPA’s lawsuit claims that ATP and WTA Tours are involved in price determination, defining the compensation that professional tennis players can earn from their events, while stopping to have competitive tournaments, limiting sanctions and licenses.
“The defendants do this by limiting the tournament award with cash prizes and limiting the players’ ability to make money off the field,” the lawsuit said. “Instead of being determined by market forces, players’ profits are subject to restrictions agreed by the defendants and their co-conspirators.”
The ranking system is also at the center of the treatment. It states that the system dictates “in which tournaments the players can fight, how much compensation they earn and whether they receive some sponsorship opportunities. The defendants give the players’ ranking points only if they play in tournaments produced by co-conspirators of the defendants. “
PTPA’s lawsuits are the first and historical intervention of the players, who are said to be intended to reach the case, with Novak Djokovic in front of the story of the most trophy Grand Slam in history.