Paris 2024 Olympics: Journalist associations condemn sexist radio comments on Italy’s Sara Errani

The comments were made Tuesday during a doubles match pitting Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry of France against Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy. The French pair lost in a match tiebreaker.

Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani in action in Paris 2024 Olympics. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The French association of women sports journalists and the union of sports journalists in France have condemned sexist comments made on national radio during a women’s tennis match at the Paris Olympics, where a commentator used stereotypical cliches about housewives to describe a player.

The comments were made Tuesday during a doubles match pitting Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry of France against Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy. The French pair lost in a match tiebreaker.

At some point, a commentator from RMC radio said: “On the left, there’s Sara Errani, who’s the boss. She does everything: the washing up, the cooking, the mopping up.”

Both unions said in a joint statement Thursday that “sexist and misogynistic comments have no place in an international competition.”

They did not explicitly ask for sanctions against the journalist but recalled that a commentator working for Eurosport in the United Kingdom was suspended immediately for sexist comments he made during a swimming event at the Paris Games.

“We note that elsewhere in Europe, when there is a slipup, there are sanctions,” they said.