Morality cannot be bought and a former player proved it by refusing a large sum of money. Explanations.
Sports betting has become a real scourge of professional sport, capable of causing harassment and threats of all kinds. So when a site came to ask her to sponsor Tennis Insider Club, the podcast she has hosted for two years, Caroline Garcia simply said no.
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The offer was tempting, but the former world No.4, who ended her career on August 25 at just 31 years old, after her 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 defeat against the Russian Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round of the US Open, has a moral. “Today we turned down $270,000,” she explains on Instagram. A considerable amount, especially for an independent sports show and for me having just retired from professional tennis.”
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The Jeanmonnot example
However, the one who has won 11 singles titles, two doubles crowns at Roland-Garros (2016 and 2022 with Kristina Mladenovic) and a victory in the Fed Cup (2019) is not ready to accept everything yet. She justified her position by the fact that she did not want to be involved in one of “the main sources of pressure, abuse and hatred in modern sport”, “a system that creates addiction, destroys lives and makes athletes targets on a daily basis”.
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Latest proof to date? French biathlete Lou Jeanmonnot was attacked by a man last week after the first individual race of the World Cup season in Ostersund (Sweden). With a most violent message: “You really know, I just wish one thing for you, it’s death for you and your family, nothing other than death. I’m going to cross my fingers that you die.”
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The Frenchwoman did not let this get her down, responding curtly by publishing official statistics linked to sports betting. “Revelation: over a period of 6 months, barely 3% of bettors make a profit. The vast majority of others (78 to 85%) fail to make money with their bets.” A publication accompanied by a scathing message: “Friendly reminder for your financial health and my mental health.”
