Scottish tennis star Andy Murray took to Instagram to condemn Martin Solveig's asking Ballon D'Or winning-footballer Ada Hegerberg to twerk on stage after accepting her award.
Hegerberg is the inaugural winner of the award, and there were audible gasps in the auditorium when Solveig asked, "Do you know how to twerk?" She replied with a blunt "No", and Solveig has subsequently apologised. "This was a joke, probably a bad one, and I want to apologize for the one I may have offended. Sorry about that".
Hegerberg said she did not believe that she was being harassed. "He came to me after and he was really, really sad that it went that way. I didn't think about it in that moment - I didn't consider it as a sexual harassment or anything. I was just happy to get a dance and celebrate winning the Ballon d'Or, to be honest".
Solveig has been widely condemned, and Murray's was among the strongest of the condemnations.
Murray said that the incident was further proof of "the ridiculous sexism that still exists in sport".
He elaborated further:
Why do women still have to put up with that shit? What questions did they ask Mbappe and Modric? I'd imagine something to do with football.
And to everyone who thinks people are overreacting and it was just a joke...It wasn't. I've been invovled in sport my whole life and the level of sexism is unreal.
Murray has been a staunch supporter of equality in tennis, too. At Wimbledon last year, Murray challenged a journalist who overlooked female players' achievements. After losing to Sam Querry at the quarter-final stage, a journalist began a question by saying "Sam is the first US player to reach a major semi-final since 2009" before Murray interrupted to correct: "Male player". Serena and Venus Williams, along with Coco Vandeweghe Sloane Stephens, and Madison Keys had all reached Grand Slam semi-finals in that period.
Murray was similarly consistent in a 2016 interview with the BBC's John Inverdale after he defended his Olympic title. Inverdale told Murray he had become the first player to win two Olympic gold medals, only for Murray to interject, "Venus and Serena have won four each".
See Also: Here's Who Voted For Whom In The Ballon D'Or
