Navratilova, 67, and Evert, 69, every gained 18 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1991.
Their opinion column in The Washington Submit final week was headlined: ‘We didn’t assist construct girls’s tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia’.
In it they mentioned transferring the “crown jewel” girls’s occasion to Saudi Arabia was “incompatible with the spirit and function of ladies’s tennis and the WTA itself” and was a “important regression”.
“Not solely is that this a rustic the place girls will not be seen as equal, it’s a nation the place the present panorama features a male guardianship regulation that primarily makes girls the property of males. A rustic which criminalises the LGBTQ group to the purpose of potential dying sentences. A rustic whose long-term file on human rights and primary freedoms has been a matter of worldwide concern for many years,” they wrote.
However in a press release issued on Tuesday, Princess Reema – who can be a member of Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee and an Worldwide Olympic Committee board member – mentioned they’d “turned their again on the exact same girls they’ve impressed and it’s past disappointing”.
She didn’t tackle the pair’s criticism of legal guidelines which criminalise the LGBTQ group.
Al-Saud support the pair ought to “get your details straight” on issues of Saudi regulation affecting girls and mentioned their arguments have been “based mostly on outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our tradition”.
She added: “Failing to acknowledge the nice progress girls have made in Saudi Arabia denigrates our exceptional journey. This not solely undermines the progress of ladies in sports activities, it sadly undermines girls, progress as a complete.
“Sports activities shouldn’t be used as a weapon to advance private bias or agendas or punish a society that’s desirous to embrace tennis and assist rejoice and develop the game.”
Critics of Saudi Arabia have accused the oil-rich kingdom of utilizing its wealth to spend money on sports activities in a bid to enhance its picture – often called ‘sportswashing’.
It follows current heavy funding in golf, Formulation 1, soccer and boxing particularly.
Campaigning organisations stay essential of Saudi Arabia’s file on human rights and equality.