{"id":26661,"date":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/uncategorized\/rowey-and-penbo-butt-heads-over-latest-margaret-court-controversy\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T00:00:00","slug":"rowey-and-penbo-butt-heads-over-latest-margaret-court-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/show\/rowey-and-penbo-butt-heads-over-latest-margaret-court-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowey And Penbo Butt Heads Over Latest Margaret Court Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Margaret Court deserves to have the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of her grand slam year properly celebrated, says FIVEAA\u2019s Stephen Rowe.<\/h3>\n

Court has made headlines<\/a> after asking Tennis Australia to mark the achievement in the same way it did for Rod Laver this year. But officials are reportedly unsure given Court\u2019s polarising presence in the tennis world after voicing her strong opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage.<\/p>\n

Rowey told FIVEAA Breakfast on Thursday:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur greatest ever tennis player Margaret Court — she\u2019s put pressure on Tennis Australia to honour her 50th<\/sup> anniversary of her 1970 grand slam title.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey celebrated Rod Laver\u2019s this year. It was really special.<\/p>\n

\u201cMargaret hasn\u2019t returned to the Aussie Open since being chastised out of the game — and she was — for her Christian beliefs. [She] hasn\u2019t returned to her court since the same sex marriage debate. I reckon that\u2019s sad and wrong — there\u2019s got to be a solution somewhere for that to be celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

PENBO: <\/strong>\u201cShe does seem to be pretty high maintenance on this issue though Rowey. It sounds like the number one thing that she is motivated by in life now, a bit like Israel Folau, is using sport as a vehicle to sort of ram her views down everyone else\u2019s throat.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROWEY:<\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t think she does\u2026 Margaret Court is a legend… the greatest ever male or female tennis player the world has ever seen, look at her record. She\u2019s a Christian and she\u2019s a reverend who quote verses from the Bible. I\u2019m not defending what she\u2019s done publicly but we are in a world of hurt as a nation if political correctness trumps that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

LISTEN:<\/p>\n\n

<\/p> \n \n

'Honour me like you did Rod Laver': Margaret Court hits out | @Melbchief<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/U5w41SAhyo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/SPwX9VcNQ2<\/a><\/p>— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) November 6, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>