Nastase defies ban
Legend stokes ‘sexism’ scandal
Ilie Nastase thumbed his nose at the International Tennis Federation yesterday by strolling through the front door of the Tenis Club IDU. It was another indication that, in Romania, he can get away with anything he likes.
Nastase had theoretically been banned from the venue after his conduct on Saturday, when he verbally abused everyone from the British team to the match officials and even visiting journalists.
But no one is likely to stop this grandee of Romanian sport from going where he pleases. He was surrounded by a knot of TV cameras and security guards as he walked up the main corridor of the venue and into the VIP Lounge, where he was reported to be eating with friends.
“If someone’s accreditation is taken away from them you’d think that would be it,” said the British captain Anne Keothavong, in a weary tone. “There’s no point having a rule book if you don’t stick to the rules. We haven’t crossed paths and as far as I’m concerned yesterday was the end of it.”
Keothavong also confirmed that flowers had been sent to the British women. When told that they had been sent by Nastase, her face froze into a grimace. “Nice,” she replied. “Unfortunately I can’t take them on the plane home with me.”
Judy Murray, Keothavong’s predecessor, was more pointed. “Like that’s going to make everything all right,” she said. “I know exactly where I’d plant those flowers.”
Before the weekend, Nastase had made a racist comment on the subject of Serena Williams’s forthcoming baby and then put an arm around Keothavong and asked for her room number. The ITF, whose job it should have been to keep Nastase off the site, seemed typically bemused by the situation. But once the great agent provocateur had made his presence felt, he slipped out a back door and left the Romanian players to celebrate their win.
One thing the ITF did do yesterday was hand Nastase a provisional ban, meaning that “he may not participate in the Fed Cup in any capacity with immediate effect”. Not that this is likely to affect his life in the short term, because Romania will not play their next tie until February.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues into what to do with Nastase in the longer term. A significant ban would seem to be the minimum he can expect, and it is hard to see why much deliberation is required. As the American TV presenter and former player Mary Carillo put it on Saturday, “What’s to investigate? Get him out.”
Another former player with a busy broadcasting schedule, Pam Shriver, added to the rapsheet against Nastase when she spoke to the BBC’s Sportsweek programme. “He certainly should be banned,” Shriver said. “It’s unacceptable behaviour, it’s insulting to so many people, minorities, women, almost humanity. It shows no respect.
“I recall that when I was 16, whenever I saw Ilie Nastase he would ask me the same question, which was ‘Are you still a virgin?’ And remember, I’m a teenager, and I’m playing the tour, and it was a shocking thing – I never had anybody ask me that before.”