Wimbledon commentator Boris Becker is facing criticism for making "sexist" comments about Hungarian tennis player Marton Fucsovics' fiancée during his match against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
On Wednesday, during the game, fellow commentator John Inverdale veered away from the topic of on-court play to talk about Fucsovics' fiancée, Anett Boszormenyi, after she appeared on screen. "That's Fucsovics's fiancée. Her name is Anett Boszormenyi. That's quite a good name for the partner of a tennis player, it's always good to have a partner called Anett," he joked.
In response to Inverdale, Becker, who was working BBC's Wimbledon coverage, said, "They do say they have the most beautiful women in Hungary. I wouldn't know that, but she's certainly very pretty." Inverdale seemed to ignore Becker's comment, adding: "I'd like to thank my Christmas cracker from 1978 for that joke."
'Disrespectful and Inappropriate'
A women's sport charity was first to take offense to Becker and Inverdale's remarks. "The charity Women in Sport has worked for decades to change sporting culture including to end the objectification of women," an agency representative told Fox News.
"When two men are comfortable talking about women in this way, never mind on live TV, it shows there is still more to do. We need everyone to understand how this impacts on women and girls, how it makes them feel. Shouldn't we be inspiring the next generation of girls to play sport rather than talking about what women look like?," the rep added.
Many fans were also offended by the comments and felt that both Inverdale and Becker did not focus on the match enough. "Boris Becker and John Inverdale talking about Hungarian women being the best looking women in world during Novak Djokovic v Marton Fucsovics isn't really the analysis I was expecting on Wimbledon Centre Court," wrote one Twitter user.
"Boris crossed the line. Why he is even on the BBC I do not know," commented another, while a third user opined, "Unbelievable sexist drivel from Becker. Appalling and not relevant to analysis during a tennis match."
The BBC backed up Becker when asked about his statements with a spokesperson stating, "Boris Becker made a light-hearted comment that was not intended to cause offense."
