Paraguayan blames Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to regulate the house crowd throughout his second-round loss.
Revealed On 30 Might 2026
Paraguayan participant Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will likely be fined after he urged ladies lack the braveness to umpire rowdy crowds following his marathon five-hour defeat by a French teenager, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) stated on Friday.
Vallejo blamed Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to regulate the house crowd throughout his second-round loss to France’s Moise Kouame, who triumphed 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10-8) at a packed Court docket Suzanne Lenglen.
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“I believe this form of matches must be umpired by a person,” Vallejo informed Clay journal.
“It’s very troublesome for a girl to do it as a result of the group could be very annoying. It’s good to have plenty of braveness to go in opposition to the group.”
Vallejo added that Kouame “took up plenty of time on many events, mendacity on the ground or stalling”.
“And it’s not regular for the group to be shouting for a full minute with none play. In a match the place the bodily facet issues a lot, in the event you give a participant plenty of time he’s clearly going to benefit from it. The reality is it’s additionally troublesome for a referee to handle this case.”
The 17-year-old Kouame was roared on by passionate dwelling supporters through the thriller that lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes, however Vallejo insisted the environment solely helped his opponent.
“I knew it was going to be like that. It didn’t hurt me, it solely strengthened him,” he stated, including {that a} male umpire would have “completely” made a distinction in opposition to the “disrespectful” crowd.
The FFT swiftly condemned the feedback as “unacceptable” and introduced the tremendous.
“The competence of an umpire just isn’t decided by their gender, however by their professionalism and skill to officiate on the highest degree,” the FFT stated in a press release.
“The end result of a sporting occasion, whether or not constructive or destructive, can by no means justify or excuse such remarks. The match organisers will impose a major sanction on Adolfo Vallejo within the type of a tremendous.
“The Roland Garros match strongly condemns all sexist remarks, no matter who makes them, and gives its assist to the match umpire and, extra broadly, to all of the match’s umpiring officers.”
Vallejo tried injury management on social media, claiming his feedback had been taken out of context.
“I by no means spoke about ladies typically, I used to be referring particularly to the referee, who didn’t handle the group at any level through the match,” he posted on X.
“That stated, I didn’t say I misplaced due to her both. I congratulated the opponent and it’s solely pure for the group to assist the house participant.”
