Paraguay blamed Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to control the home crowd when they were eliminated in the second round.
Published May 30, 2026
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced on Friday that Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will be fined for suggesting that a woman does not have the courage to officiate a noisy crowd after she lost the marathon to a French teenager in five hours.
Vallejo blamed Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to control the home crowd during his second-round loss to France’s Moise Kouame, who won 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8) on a packed court.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“I think men should officiate these kinds of matches,” Vallejo told Clay magazine.
“It’s very difficult for women to do that because the crowds are very annoying. It takes a lot of courage to go against the crowd.”
Vallejo added that Kouame “spent a lot of time lying on the floor and stalling.”
“And it’s not normal for the crowd to be screaming for a whole minute without any play being played. In a very physical game, if you give the players more time, obviously they’re going to take advantage of it. It’s true that it’s also difficult for the referees to manage this situation.”
Kouame, 17, was taunted by enthusiastic home supporters during the thrilling match, which lasted four hours and 56 minutes, but Vallejo insisted the atmosphere only helped his opponent.
“I knew this was going to happen. It didn’t hurt me, it just made him stronger,” he said, adding that a male referee “definitely” would have made a difference to the “rude” crowd.
FFT immediately condemned the comments as “unacceptable” and announced a fine.
“A referee’s ability is not determined by his gender, but by his professionalism and ability to referee at the highest level,” FFT said in a statement.
“The results of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can in no way justify or excuse such statements. The tournament organizers will impose serious sanctions on Adolfo Vallejo in the form of a fine.”
“Roland Garros strongly condemns all sexist comments, regardless of who makes them, and expresses our support to the match officials and to all tournament referees more broadly.”
Vallejo attempted damage control on social media, claiming his comments were taken out of context.
“I was never talking about women in general. I was specifically referring to the referee who had no control over the crowd at any point during the match,” he posted on X.
“However, I wouldn’t say we lost because of her. We congratulated our opponent, and it’s natural for the crowd to cheer for the home players.”
