Tennis star angers fans with anti-gay remark
Ben Townley, Gay.com U.K. and the PlanetOut Network
published Monday, July 18, 2005
Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt is being urged to apologize to lesbian and gay fans after apparently shouting anti-gay comments at an umpire during play at the Davis Cup this weekend.
Hewitt, ranked as the world's second-best player, was said to have shouted "Who is this poof?" at the referee, after Portuguese umpire Carlos Ramos ruled a shot was out.
Although the tennis jock has denied the accusation, video footage is said to clearly show him shouting the remarks during the bout with Argentinean Guillermo Coria.
The "poof" comment came amid a very heated match. Hewitt accused Coria of making obscene gestures and spitting, while Coria said of Hewitt, "He grabbed his private parts at one stage, three times in a row, and I'm about to serve and I asked him if he had an issue -- or if he could find it [his penis]," Coria said following the match, according to the Sydney Herald.
A spokesperson for Australia's Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby said Hewitt's comments would upset many lesbian and gay tennis fans.
"While we understand the tension in this match and in other sporting events, reverting to this sort of unnecessary and vile name-calling is entirely inappropriate," Pete Dillon told the country's Herald Sun newspaper. So far, Hewitt has remained silent on the issue.