Li Na is often described as one of the most affable characters in tennis today, and her victory speech at the Australian Open confirmed those assessments.
“At tournaments, I’ve seen her charm the crowds,” the tennis legend Chris Evert later said. “When she smiles, everyone melts.”
But, it seems, her smiles are reserved only for centre courts, after grand slam victories. Returning home, she was wearing an ugly scowl as she received a cheque of worth Dh485,000 from Wang Guosheng, the governor of her home province Hubei, for her Australian success.
Her reaction sparked outrage in the Chinese local and social media.
“Wang Guosheng tried to use taxpayer money to buy a smile,” wrote one user of Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter. “Alas, she didn’t give it to him.”
Xinhua, China’s official news agency, described the event as “embarrassing” and “money-worshipping”, while other posters on Weibo demanded “the government and the party should stop spending money as they wish”.
Li Na is certainly not in need of money – her Melbourne winner’s cheque was for A$2.65 million (Dh8.56m). Since her victory at the 2011 French Open, she reportedly has earned more than US$40m (Dh146.9m) in endorsements.
Athletes in individual sports represent themselves and not a country. Why should they receive public funds as bonuses? Especially someone like Li Na, who has made clear the she represents herself.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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