Pospisil hits out at ATP for denying him and Djokovic entry into ATP Player Council

Former world No. 25 Vasek Pospisil wasn't happy at all after he and 17-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic got denied to enter the ATP Player Council. 

Pospisil and Djokovic, the masterminds behind the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), were voted by other players to rejoin the ATP Player Council but the ATP then announced that members of the council can't be a part of any other association.

"Well, exactly so that was the other thing is when ATP found out that we were on the list they created overnight, they created a new law a new bylaw in ATP to prevent us from actually being able to go and represent the players,” Pospisil told Tennis.com, as quoted on Essentially Sports.

"But it is ok you have IMG representatives on the board, there is such, it blows my mind that it is ok that there are all these other insane conflict of interests like in no other sport in the world, they gave a pass to that. It’s crazy, it just shows you how desperate they are to maintain.”

Pospisil and Djokovic want players to have better rights 

When the PTPA was launched, Pospisil talked with Tennis Majors for starting up the PTPA: "Well, the main reason is just an ongoing, 30-year struggle that the players have, that we have a lack of representation. We’re not a unified voice, we can’t impact any decisions that affect our livelihoods and our lives. The issue is the structure of the ATP. It’s just something the players have wanted and needed for over 30 years. Other sports have it, tennis doesn’t. It just felt like, OK, let’s do it now. Obviously last year, when I started this movement with Norton Rose, then Novak and the women, we had over 70 of the top 100 women and close to 80 of the top men; that was a little bit of a different approach, we were going for the Grand Slams and wanted to negotiate prize money, revenue sharing and funnel any success we had from increasing that, funnel it to the Challenger Tour. Phase two was always going to be trying to create a player association, that was always the plan, that following that Grand Slam we would go and try to kind of organise the players within. This time around, we went straight to trying to organise the players. It’s not a combative movement right now.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3q75dXY