Basil Zempilas: Perth Lord Mayor defends ‘reserves game’ tennis remark

Perth’s Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has labelled accusations of sexism “disingenuous” after a video emerged of him appearing to joke the women’s Australian Open finals was “a reserves game”.

Perth’s Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has fired back at accusations he compared the Australian Open women’s finals to a “reserves game”.

At a press conference on Saturday to announce his plans to run in Western Australia’s 2025 state election, Mr Zempilas appeared to be caught on camera making a series of offhand comments to a Channel Nine reporter.

Part of the exchange spread on social media in which he appears to disparage the women’s tennis final as a “reserves game”.

Commentators were quick to accused the well-known figure of misogyny.

But Mr Zempilas said the video had been edited and wrongly construed his remarks.

I need to make absolutely clear the conversation I had with @9NewsPerth reporter @GenoveseMichael today is being reported totally incorrectly.

Before today's press conference Michael and I were talking about how presenting the news when a big sporting event is on at the same… https://t.co/bI5plk7UrM

— Basil Zempilas (@BasilZempilas) January 27, 2024

I need to make absolutely clear the conversation I had with @9NewsPerth reporter @GenoveseMichael today is being reported totally incorrectly,” Mr Zempilas shared on X, formerly Twitter.

“It is totally disingenuous and flat out wrong to suggest otherwise and I will not be accused of having said something I did not say.”

Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas says his comments have been misconstrued. Picture: Supplied/ 10NEWS

Sharing a longer version of the exchange, Mr Zempilas said he was “referring to reading the news against that broadcast”.

9NEWS reporter Michael Genovese backed the Lord Mayor up, sayingthe conversations was “taken completely out of context”.

“@BasilZempilas was referring to the tennis and the news going head to head.”

Aside from being the City of Perth’s Lord Mayor, Mr Zempilas is a long time sports commentator and employee of SevenWest Media.