Boris Becker, the tennis expert of British broadcaster BBC, described the fiancéé of Hungarian tennis player, Márton Fucsovics, as “very pretty,” during the Márton Fucsovics-Novak Djokovic match on Wednesday. Following his comment, British organization Women in Sport accused him of sexism.
On Wednesday, former world number one professional tennis player, Boris Becker, was commentating on the Wimbledon quarter-final between Hungarian Márton Fucsovics and Serbian Novak Djokovic when the camera turned to Fucsovics’ fiancé, Anett Böszörményi, as she appeared on screen.
Co-commentator John Inverdale then immediately joked: “If you’re a tennis player, it’s always good to have a partner called Anett,” (as the name Anett sounds like ‘a net’ pronounced in English).
Boris Becker then replied: “They do say they have the most beautiful women in Hungary. I wouldn’t know that, but she’s certainly very pretty.”
A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon
British organization “Women in Sport” immediately reacted to Becker’s comment:
“When two men feel comfortable talking about women in this way, much less on live television, it shows that there is more to be done. Shouldn’t we inspire girls to exercise rather than talk about what women look like?”, Stephanie Hillborne, chief executive of the organization said in response.
Boris Becker’s comment proved controversial not only in the UK, but also in Hungary. Although many people agree with Stephanie Hillborne, there were also those who thought there was nothing wrong with the commentator’s remark.
Fruzsina Skrabski, President of the pro-family ‘Three Princes, Three Princesses Movement’ wrote on her social media page:
“I’m writing it down here, because otherwise I don’t believe it! In 2021, the EU has declared that men can give birth too! In 2021, it became a world scandal that during a sports broadcast, a commentator said a woman was pretty! I don’t want to live in a world where women can’t be told they’re pretty!!!!! Je suis Boris Becker!”
Later, Márton Fucsovics revealed in an interview that his fiancée didn’t find the comment offensive and “she really appreciated the compliment.”
The BBC also defended the commentator saying “Boris Becker made a light-hearted comment not intended to cause offense.”
Featured photo via Anett Böszörményi’s Instagram page
