Switzerland criticises Roger Federer: ´He just thinks about money´

Roger Federer is receiving very harsh criticism in his homeland, Switzerland. Yesterday the newspaper "Tages Anzeiger” talked about Federer in these terms: “On court he plays like comes from another planet, but off the court he’s a human with imperfections like us. An imperfect talent. He just thinks about money.”

So what caused all of this?

First, the Swiss rebelled against Federer's decision not to play the Davis Cup in 2013, but the situation got worse day by day during the Basel tournament. The Swiss was bonded to the “home” tournament by a four year contract which expired this year, and that probably won’t be renewed for economic reasons. It talks about one million euros being asked by the world number 1.

The words of the President of the Swiss federation were also harsh: “We are not in Qatar,”  admitted Renè Stammbach. Tournament director Roger Brennwald agreed: “ We will do everything to let this love story continue, but we can’t keep to these terms.”

Federer denied that he was thinking only of money: "If I gave importance to money I would have taken other decisions in my career. I would have played more in Asia instead, but I always gave priority to Basel. I helped this tournament a lot and I don’t think that this criticism is fair.”