Outrage !!!

Do you remember these scenes last October Rafateers?? The lovely Rafa as proud as punch to be receiving the esteemed "Prince of Asturias" award for Sport. This is a prestigious event, comparable to the Nobel Prize, and it awards individuals, organizations, entities, or others from around the world for their notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs.

Rafa's fellow recipients included Ingrid Betancourt, Google, and Margaret Atwood. In the sports category, Rafa joined past recipients Martina Navratilova, Lance Armstrong, Steffi Graf, and Carl Lewis. Past recipients from other fields were Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, J.K. Rowling, Woody Allen, Paul Auster, Susan Sontag, and Bob Dylan. A luminous list, I think you will agree.

Fast forward to January 2009 and this scene ...

Rafa's moment of triumph in his first ever hardcourt Major - the Australian Open. A moment of what should have been exaltation usurped by a blubbing Feds who could not contain his abject disappointment at what should have been HIS moment of history in equalling Pistol Pete's total Majors tally in front of the tennis "greats", wheeled out in his honour to witness it. But how did Rafa handle it? With empathy, grace and humanitarian care for his opponent - but his moment of victory had to be muted, regardless.

Following this display of what I considered to be selfish indulgence, it was then with some shock and surprise that I read that Rafa - yes Rafa!!! had in fact nominated Feds for the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Sport.

“I won the award in 2008 and of course I’d like a colleague and a friend to win it because he deserves it.” he explained. Sometimes I feel though that Rafa's good grace and class can be somewhat misguided.

However, nothing - yes nothing - could have prepared me for the report today that Feds has actually TURNED DOWN Rafa and Pau Gasol's gracious nomination for the award. The reason being that in order to be nominated, the nominee must guarantee their attendance at the prestigious awards ceremony (in October), and this apparently is something that Feds cannot commit to.

"I’d like to thank Rafa Nadal and Pau Gasol (L.A. Lakers basketball player) for having considered me, but it won’t be possible." said Feds. "It’s always difficult for me to travel to Spain because I have a very busy schedule and I also have to think about my personal life."

Hhhmmm ... I can see how a man with a private jet might find it difficult to make the one hour's flight from Switzerland to Spain, and whilst baby Feds is due in the summer time, this will not affect his tournament schedule and no doubt the lucrative commitments he's made to his sponsors which I am sure he will find the time to honour. This wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't - with typical Federer arrogance - ended his 'excuse' by saying:-

"Maybe next year is a good moment to nominate me.”

Stick it where the sun don't shine Mister ... and lets hope this might also be a lesson for Rafa in that whilst he may admire Feds' play and achievements as a tennis player with his record of 14 Master Series titles and 13 Grand Slam titles ... he is light years away in terms of the essence of being a gentleman with humility, class and an appreciation of grace that was to be bestowed upon him by a fellow rival, competitor, friend and human being. Shame on you!

http://www.gototennisblog.com/2009/05/13/roger-federer-to-rafael-nadal-thanks-but-no-thanks/

Just a reminder of a wholly just and deserved Prince of Asturias winner.