A Portuguese professional tennis player has stated he’s “become exhausted” by abuse, including death threats, that he receives on social media from gamblers.
Joao Sousa, 34, revealed the disturbing messages Thursday after an early defeat to Argentine Mariano Navone at the ATP Girona Challenger. Sports journalist José Morgado took to Twitter to share some abuse Sousa got on Instagram:
In his statement, Sousa said the abuse was something tennis players have to face weekly when online gamblers turn on losing players they’ve backed. He added that while several fellow pro colleagues have already come forward about the abuse and “learned to deal with it,” he felt the need to share his experience.
little understanding of what it means to sacrifice to be a professional tennis player”
He expressed his tiredness of receiving messages from gamblers with “threats, insults, provocations and little understanding of what it means to sacrifice to be a professional tennis player.”
He added that while the betting industry “has all my respect,” the people dishing out the hatred reflected the worst of it, and that they shouldn’t forget that the victims like him “are above all HUMANS!” While the ATP ranking chart currently has Sousa at 156, he has been in the top 30 in the past and has four ATP titles under his belt.