Martina Navratilova makes frustrations clear with Piers Morgan's controversial comment about SPOTY's cover featuring 3 women over men

Martina Navratilova makes frustrations clear with Piers Morgan
Martina Navratilova makes frustrations clear with Piers Morgan's controversial comment about SPOTY's cover featuring 3 women over men. Credit: GETTY

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is a strong voice in women's empowerment, and she couldn't resist commenting when broadcaster Piers Morgan elicited surprise over the cover of the Sports Personality of the Year, which is set for 18 December.

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The cover featured three women celebrities, Gabby Logan, Alex Scott and Clare Balding, who will present the program on BBC One, the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

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Upon seeing this cover, Morgan teased what would have happened had three men been placed on the cover. He wrote:

"Can just imagine the furore if they had promoted this with a photo of three male presenters…"
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Navratilova replied back to Morgan, citing the history and how the men have traditionally dominated the covers of such events.

"In the past, it’s been three men most of the time, Piers. Times have changed, thank goodness for that," she wrote.
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She added:

"It’s been men for decades in so many ways- maybe not SPOTY specifically but everywhere else and nobody batted an eye…"
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Martina Navratilova against transgender women competing in women's sports

Martina Navratilova has repeatedly iterated her stance on the participation of transgender women in women's sports events.

In 2019, in the Times column, Navratilova called it "insane" and cheating to allow transgender women (assigned male at birth) to compete in women’s sports. She backed up that statement while adding that biological males retain an advantage even after hormone treatment.

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“To put the argument at its most basic: a man can decide to be female, take hormones if required by whatever sporting organisation is concerned, win everything in sight and perhaps earn a small fortune, and then reverse his decision and go back to making babies if he so desires," Navratilova said.
“It’s insane and it’s cheating. I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her. It would not be fair.”
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However, Navratilova's comments didn't sit well with rights group Trans Actual, who wrote:

“We’re pretty devastated to discover that Martina Navratilova is transphobic. If trans women had an advantage in sport, why aren’t trans women winning gold medals left, right and centre?”

While Navratilova continues to be against transgender women's sports participation, she supports trans rights on a civil and human level.

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Edited by Krutik Jain
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