Vallejo has been fined for making sexual comments about a female referee at the French Open Tennis

Paraguay are criticizing Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to control the home team as they lost in the second round.

Paraguayan player Adolfo Daniel Vallejo has been fined after he said women have no incentive to attract fans after a five-hour defeat by the French teenager, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said on Friday.

Vallejo criticized Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to control the home team on time second loss in France Moise Kouamewho won 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10-8) in a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen.

“I think a match like this should be sponsored by a man,” Vallejo told Clay magazine.

“It is difficult for a woman to do this because people are disgusted by people, and you need courage to not join those people.”

Vallejo added that Kouame “was spending a lot of time, lying down or standing up”.

“And it’s not unusual for a lot of people to scream for a whole minute without any play. In a game where form is so important, if you give a player more time then they’ll take advantage. The truth is that it’s also difficult for a player to deal with it.”

Kouame, 17, was booed by his home supporters during the four-hour-and-56-minute celebration, but Vallejo insisted the atmosphere only helped his opponent.

“I knew it would happen like that.” It didn’t hurt me, but it only encouraged him,” he said, adding that a male singer “absolutely” would have made a difference in a “disrespectful” crowd.

The FFT quickly condemned the comments as “unacceptable” and announced fines.

“A referee’s ability is not determined by gender, but by their skill and ability to perform high-level tasks,” the FFT said in a statement.

“The results of the match, whether good or bad, cannot justify or excuse such claims. The organizers of the tournament will impose a large penalty on Adolfo Vallejo as a fine.

“The Roland Garros tournament strongly opposes all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them, and offers support to the referee and, in particular, to all tournament officials.”

Vallejo tried to destroy it on social media, saying that what he said did not happen.

“I didn’t talk about many women, I only talked about the referee, who failed to control the crowd during every match,” he wrote on X.

“That said, I didn’t say I lost because of him. I thanked the opponent and it’s natural for the team to support the home player.”