大象传媒

This week it was announced that female tennis players on the WTA tour will get paid maternity leave for the first time. It'll enable more than three hundred and twenty players to take up to 12 months off while they have a baby.

The money is coming, in part at least, from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, a partner of the WTA tour. But that's raised concerns in some quarters about "sport-washing" - the use of the country's huge wealth to improve its image abroad while changing little at home.

Newshour's James Menendez has been speaking to the former world number one tennis player Victoria Azarenka, who's been pushing for maternity leave as a member of the WTA players' council.

(File picture: Victoria Azarenka reacts during her semi final match against Kazakhstan鈥檚 Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open in 2023. Credit: Jaimi Joy/Reuters)