French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton says it “is a shame” that some fans were selling the T-shirts handed out for Rafael Nadal’s tribute at Roland Garros online.
Organisers gave all 15,000 people at Court Philippe Chatrier for a ceremony celebrating Nadal’s career on Sunday free T-shirts printed with the words ‘merci, Rafa’.
The different colours spelt out the message ’14 RG, Rafa’, referencing Nadal’s record 14 French Open titles.
The simple orange or white T-shirts, also including the date “25/05/2025”, were listed for sale on websites including Vinted and Leboncoin for prices ranging from 150 euros ($170) to 500 euros ($569).
“What do you want me to say, that we shouldn’t have made them?,“ Moretton told a press conference on Monday.
“Some people are trying to make money out of it, with the ‘Merci Rafa’, the ‘Thank You Rafa’.
“It’s a bit of a shame, but we did not think of getting the T-shirts back at the end of the ceremony, that wouldn’t have been right.
“I really appreciated the fact that about 98 percent of people wore the T-shirts to pay tribute to Rafa.
“It is because of the uniqueness of Roland Garros, something that hasn’t been seen anywhere else, and this is precisely what has led people to want to buy these shirts at staggering prices.”
Nadal fought back tears during the emotional ceremony and was joined on court by old rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
