A world number one has spoken out against the professional padel circuit to denounce structural machismo. Delfina Brea, the 26-year-old Argentine who tops the women's padel rankings with her partner, Spaniard Gemma Triay, has denounced that there are "many sexist things" and "a constant preference for men".
In a press conference during the Italy Major held last week and concluded on Sunday (with a victory for Brea-Triay in the final), the Argentine denounced that "we are in a sport with many sexist things and with a constant preference for men". "I think that, together with the association, we are fighting to change a lot of things. It is very difficult to always fight against things that I think do not make sense and that they have to give us the opportunity," she added.
Delfina Brea demanded that players should have "the same place that is given to men for everything that is done" because "it is clear that we perform and that we measure up and that when we are given the place and the space we meet expectations, the public, sales...".
The professional padel player has lived in Madrid since she was 17, but she referred to Argentina: "It is a country where today a woman dies every 31 hours, and that is something that cannot be allowed. We have to fight, we have to be there, we have to share what we can. We have to say what we can so that we all become aware, not only of the big things, but of the small sexist gestures that we all have and that we all have very ingrained sometimes".
In her opinion, "there are a lot of things that need to be discussed and put on the table" and she encouraged citizens to have "better gestures" in their daily lives. "Let's think three times about what we are doing, the people around us, and let's all educate ourselves little by little so that it doesn't happen anymore," she concluded.