New Ball-Girls, Please

‘EVEN if you don’t speak Spanish, you can always enjoy football coverage on Spanish TV because every programme seems to be presented by some impossibly beautiful woman.

Court jester?

Whether they know anything about the game or not is for the Spaniards to judge, but let it be said that they are a lot easier on the eye than Alan Hansen or Andy Gray.

And the same could be said of the ball-girls at the current ATP Masters tennis series in Madrid, all of whom just happen to be models.

The recogepoletas, to give them their Spanish name, were selected from 80 candidates from Spanish model agencies, given a bit of training, dressed up in T-shirts and knee-length skirts and sent out onto the court.

But they are not to everyone’s taste – and the Telegraph reports that the Spanish government is ordering that they be sacked.

Their presence, it says, ‘contributes to fomenting clear discrimination towards women who appear as simple objects of decoration and amusement’.

However, we are happy to say that the organisers are resisting the pressure and vowing to ‘continue with our project until the end’.

It is a project that could even be extended – and we look forward to the days when football matches are refereed by 5ft 10in blondes.

After all, they couldn’t do a worse job than Graham Poll and they’re more likely to get the players’ attention…’

Posted: 21st, October 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink