Why is Naomi Osaka getting such a hard time for not doing press conferences?

[workwoes123]

I don’t know much about professional sport but what I see is a vulnerable and incredibly talented young woman being hounded by powerful organisations. Why is this such a big deal? Isn’t she there to play tennis?

@AlternativePerspective

Essentially calling in sick for a press conference was one thing, but if she’s too sick to do press conferences, then she’s too sick to play Tennis.

If you have an illness in any other kind of job then you call in sick from that job until you’re well enough to go back. You don’t just go in and say “I can do the admin/minutes today but I can’t do any photocopying.

If there is a specific part of your job which is impacted by your health then you would have some kind of medical proof of that in order to have it approved by your employer.

Presumably she wasn’t signed off sick from press conferences by her medical team, in which case she’s obliged to do the interviews or not play.

I've gone into various jobs before and said I can do x but not y - typing not hefting gear around, paperwork, not phones, fixing small items, not climbing ladders. After a while, I've been asked if it looked to be a permanent thing rather than a temporary one.

The only time it's been an issue was with the boss who didn't believe in disability and was enraged that ordering me to do something really physical with no warning, training or instruction led to my refusing. but the union sorted her out.

The organisers claim they reached out to offer support, but she refused to engage with them. If that is true, then I think it's right for her to withdraw.

@CormoranStrike

It’s part of her job and her contract - however, they were not listening to her effectively calling in sick, and that led to a pile on as if she just didn’t want to speak, as opposed to felt too ill to speak.

They need to examine how they handle mental health matters alongside the responsibilities of commercially driven contracts. It’s not an easy solution.

Except this is nothing like "calling in sick".

She announced that she wasn't doing any press conferences.

In effect saying that she wasn't going to do part of her job.

IMO, (cynic that I am) I think that the organisations that are tennis would still have handled it the same way, But she would have had more sympathy and support from the public and fans if she had spoken to them first.

I have a physical disability that restricts some of the things I can do (well or at all). I can prove this in the form of Drs certifications, handicapped registration etc. My employer has to take these into account and make accommodation for this in the tasks that I am given and the equipment etc that I need to have in place to do certain tasks. At the very least, I am not going to be asked to do something that is either not possible or is going to make my physical health condition even worse.

Isn't it the same for mental health? If she has 'proof' of a mental health condition, doesn't this have to be taken into account and her be excused, for want of a better word, from certain tasks that will aggravate her illness?

@Marguerite2000

The organisers claim they reached out to offer support, but she refused to engage with them. If that is true, then I think it's right for her to withdraw.

Ah, yes, I read about that. Sometimes it's possible to read a message in the way it appears on the surface and in the way it's actually intended.

I mentioned the boss who didn't believe in disability. Once the union were becoming involved, there was a similar message of 'Tell us exactly what reasonable adjustments you would like us to make for you?'. What it actually meant was 'Come on then, prove to me why exactly you think you're so special when you're clearly just a lazy, pathetic chancer'. And the reason I know this? Occy Health showed me her completed referral form. It was to assess if 'anything she is saying is true and if so, under what categories of incapacity they would fall under for termination'.

I don't think I'm the first to point out that if this ends the dull and pointless post match conferences, the sport will be improved. Being paid a lot of money to pay your sport is a big privilege, and if Osaka can't do a few minutes inane chat after a match then she can't get paid under the current system.

the only point of the chats is to put the sponsors logo on camera. That can be done just as well with a mannequin dressed in tennis gear.

If the sponsors logo is not on camera then there's going to be less money for prizes and hosting the tournament. Like it or not advertising and sponsorship ultimately pay their others wages.

I was wondering - as it’s part and parcel of ‘the job’ (isn’t being ‘the face of’ and filming ads, attending launches etc also stressful?) could a player write a short speech and read it out at the post match press conference, or do they have to answer questions?

I’d hate to have to explain why I just got creamed, or answer dumb questions (wasn’t a player asked if she lost because she was having her period?). Maybe reframe it as part of the procedure of processing a defeat.

@toffeebutterpopcorn

I was wondering - as it’s part and parcel of ‘the job’ (isn’t being ‘the face of’ and filming ads, attending launches etc also stressful?) could a player write a short speech and read it out at the post match press conference, or do they have to answer questions?

I’d hate to have to explain why I just got creamed, or answer dumb questions (wasn’t a player asked if she lost because she was having her period?). Maybe reframe it as part of the procedure of processing a defeat.

Nobody really has to answer questions if they don't want to, that's what media training is for. There are ways of handling jounalists and giving non answers to awkward questions.

Didn’t a male player keep saying something like ‘they made me come here’ or ‘I don’t want to do this’?

I think there are a lot of issues here.

She won her first grand slam and the focus was all on the behaviour of her competitor, which was awful rather than focusing on the winner of the tournament. The press behaved badly too in their questioning. The shine on what should have been a momentous happy occasion was well and truly tarnished. I can fully appreciate that anxiety etc could have been triggered by dealing with that.

The organisers of the french open say they have tried to reach out to her and never got a response. If that's true, that certainly wasn't the right thing to do. An agreement could have maybe been reached.

By taking the place then withdrawing after a match was played has meant that another player was denied the spot. For many up and coming players even losing in the first round is an important payday. If she knew she would struggle to fulfil her obligations then withdrawing before the tournament would have been better.

I do think mental health in sports needs to be looked at and her health comes first.

Phoning in sick means you don't play.......