The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. And it has reacted to sports stars, such as tenniswoman Venus Williams, player of the Algerian national football team Adlène Gedioura and even Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
We see Ines Ibbou, 21, Algerian, 620e in the world ranking, which responds to Dominic Thiem, Saturday May 9, late in the evening. The Austrian, 3e said at the end of April that it did not wish to participate in the financial support funds set up for the lowest ranked tennis players, affected by the cessation of competitions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “None of these poorly ranked players are struggling to survive. All year round, I see many who do not give everything to tennis. Many are not very professional ”, he told an Austrian daily.
This is what Ines Ibbou's response letter denies. "The meaning of sport is to distinguish the most talented, the most tenacious, the most hardworking, the most courageous, specifies the young woman. Dominic, I told you, we didn't ask you for anything. Apart from a little respect for our sacrifices. "
Throughout her video, the player lists her difficulties in being a high level sportswoman in Algeria: no professional tournament, no sponsor, faulty sports infrastructure, complex and expensive procedures to obtain visas for tournaments at foreign.
Junior African Champion
Born in the western outskirts of Algiers, the young woman was however a junior African champion and even reached the place of 23e world junior player. "Aside from some equipment and support from small local businesses, I only received the minimum to cover my participation in the Junior Grand Slams. And you know, in Africa, the budget for an athlete rarely ends up in his bank account, if you know what I mean … ", she also points out in her letter to Dominic Thiem.
In Algeria, where the working conditions of top athletes are complicated, his letter was widely shared. "His situation is nonsense and injustice. But she fights and remains competitive ”, even commented Adlène Gedioura, defensive midfielder of the national football team and close to the tenniswoman. And his cry for help is not the first.
In 2016, after a silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the Rio Olympics, Toufik Makhloufi denounced "The sabotage of certain officials who diverted the means made available to us by the authorities". Still in Rio, a photo of the decathlete Larbi Bourrada, who arrived 5e in the final, caused a scandal. For his recovery, he had frozen bottles of water placed in a bathtub.
On Sunday May 10, the Algerian president reacted in a tweet, assuring the tennis player of his support: "Algeria cannot afford to lose a sports talent like Ines Ibbou. " Response from the young woman: "Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. These words honor me. My dream is to win the Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open cups to make the Algerian people happy. I hope you will give me all the means to achieve this. " The Minister of Youth and Sports, Sid Ali Khaldi, also called Ines Ibbou, "To signify to him all the will of the State to accompany him", according to a press release.
