Saudi Arabia in sport: Will the WTA Finals help bring about change?

The WTA has approved a three-year contract for Saudi Arabia to host a tournament in which the eight leading women’s singles players and the eight best doubles teams of the season will compete.

The WTA says this year’s total prize money of $15.5 million (£12 million) is the largest in the history of women’s sport.

Many critics claim that investing in a top-tier sport is a move to gain legitimacy and distract from the controversy over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, a practice known as “sportwashing.”

Although there have been reforms – for example, the ban on women driving was officially lifted in 2018 – concerns about the Kingdom’s suitability to host high-profile women’s sporting events remain.

“There is still discrimination based on gender in most aspects of family life, including marriage, divorce and child custody,” Fakih told BBC Sport.

BBC Sport asked the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) to address these concerns during the WTA Finals, but did not make any of its officials available for an interview.

Human Rights Watch says that there is no evidence that the presence of the Women’s Tennis Professionals Association improves women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, noting the “lack of action” in cases involving women imprisoned for calling for change.

Manahil Al Otaibi, a fitness activist and influencer, is serving a five-year prison sentence for tweets supporting women’s rights.

Her sister, Fawzia Al-Otaibi, told BBC Sport: “The Saudi authorities continue to detain my sister while continuing the charade of whitewashing her image and claiming to empower women in front of the Western media.”

Al Otaibi’s other sister, Maryam, remains subject to a travel ban, while facing restrictions on her speech and access to government services, according to Human Rights Watch.

“Seeing human rights defenders who have been imprisoned and remain imprisoned today — cases that were known before WTA entered — is a good indicator of the lack of progress,” said Minky Worden, global initiatives director at Human Rights Watch.

“It is clear that the Saudi authorities do not feel any real pressure to do anything.”

Muguruza has visited the Kingdom several times since the finals were moved there, going into communities to visit schools and clubs with a focus on attracting more female tennis players.

Through these experiences, she says the women she has met are “very happy” to have the event taking place on their doorstep.

Asked if she had concerns about “sports whitewashing”, Muguruza said: “No, I don’t think so.

“Maybe this was a conversation a couple of years ago or something when people weren’t aware of the sport here, but I think that’s gone.

“There are a lot of sporting events here and they have been very successful. I don’t feel like it, no.”