Julia Mengolini has once again sparked strong controversy in recent hours. On her Futurock program, the "journalist" claimed that tennis is an "encapsulated sport" and that those who play it professionally must have a "limited symbolic capacity".
"In order to hit the ball well with the racket, you have to concentrate so much on that that you don't have symbolic power, you don't have the capacity to... they barely know the words, which are symbols...", Mengolini stated. She concluded: "I'm too intelligent to play tennis well. To be a professional, you have to be dumb".
The statements quickly sparked a wave of criticism within the sports community. From the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT) they issued an official statement in which they expressed their "strong repudiation" of the communicator's remarks, describing it as a "message that is offensive, stigmatizing, and contrary to the spirit of respect that should guide public debate".
"We deeply regret that a communicator chooses to disqualify those who practice and love this sport, instead of contributing to a constructive dialogue that promotes participation and equal opportunities", the organization stated.
Meanwhile, the president of the AAT, Agustín Calleri, also replied forcefully. In a conversation with La Motosierra de Toti for Carnaval Stream, he described Mengolini's remarks as a "very mistaken and regressive comment".
