Teal MP Zali Steggall's blistering take down of Sydney Sweeney sports ad: 'Putting her body cheaply on the line'

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Community Strong Australia Teal MP Zali Steggall has launched a scathing attack on actress Sydney Sweeney's controversial gambling advertisement, accusing her of 'putting her body cheaply on the line' and 'luring men' into gambling away large sums of money.

The Warringah MP and former Olympic skier called the advertisement, which features Sweeney scantily clad while promoting sports betting, 'offensive' and said it sent the wrong message to both young women and men.

The ad shows Sweeney in little or no clothing while parodying sports such as tennis, golf, baseball and ice hockey before spruiking betting on 'just sports'.

In one scene, she sits topless on a basketball hoop, and in another, she lies topless on a pool table.

Before entering politics, Steggall was one of Australia's leading winter athletes, representing the country at four consecutive Winter Olympics from 1992 to 2002.

She made history at the 1998 Nagano Games, claiming bronze in the slalom and becoming, in her words, the first Australian woman and the first Australian competitor to win an individual Winter Olympic medal.

'As a young athlete, I was often in situations that made me uncomfortable, pressured to do sexualised campaigns and show my body in ways that really made me quite uncomfortable and really cheapened me as an athlete,' Steggall said.

'Female athletes have fought for decades to be recognised for what we are: serious, competitive athletes, strong and powerful.'

Stegall slammed the advertising campaign featuring US actress Sydney Sweeney (pictured)

Stegall (pictured) is among a number of women athletes globally crticising the commercial

'That's why the Sydney Sweeney gambling advertising campaign is so incredibly disappointing and just offensive.'

Steggall said the campaign uses a woman's body to market gambling while diminishing the achievements of female athletes.

'It uses a woman's body to sell sports betting while reducing women's sport to a sexualised punchline,' she said.

'It's a trope that we need to do away with, and it comes from an industry already aggressively targeting young men through sport to gamble and ruin their lives.'

The advertisement has racked up millions of views online and sparked widespread backlash from athletes and sporting bodies.

Steggall questioned who the campaign was intended to attract and what message it sends to young Australians.

'Who profits? Who is this being marketed to, and what does it reinforce to young girls watching this?' she said.

'As an Olympian, I have an athlete's body. I am strong, I am powerful, I love what my body is capable of.'

'It doesn't look like what Sydney Sweeney and others show. It comes in all shapes and sizes.'

Zali Stegall (right) won a Bronze Medal at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in the slalom

Steggall also addressed young men directly, warning that the ad was designed to use sex appeal to drive gambling engagement.

'To young men, don't be fooled. This is a gambling company trying to lure you using sex to get your attention so you can lose your money,' she said.

'Women's bodies and women's sport deserve so much better.'

Steggall's comments add to a growing chorus of criticism from current and former athletes, including Australian Olympians, who argue the campaign rolls back efforts to have women's sport judged on achievement, not appearance.

Swimming star Ariarne Titmus called the ad 'an absolute joke' on Instagram.

The Australian Institute of Sport responded by posting a video of female athletes with the caption 'THIS is sport'.