WTA Tour - Fan boycott feared in Dubai

Eurosport - Tue, 17 Feb 23:44:00 2009

Local fans would have boycotted the Dubai women's championships if Israeli player Shahar Peer had been allowed to compete this week, according to organisers.

TENNIS 2006 French Open Third round Peer - 0

The United Arab Emirates, which has no diplomatic links with Israel, denied Peer a visa for the WTA tournament.

"Public sentiment remains high in the Middle East and it is believed that Ms Peer's presence would have antagonised our fans who have watched live television coverage of recent attacks in Gaza," a statement read by tournament director Salah Tahlak said.

"Ms Peer personally witnessed protests against her at another tournament in New Zealand only a few weeks ago.

"Concern was raised about her well being and her presence triggering similar protests. Given public sentiment, the entire tournament could have been boycotted by protesters.

"We do not wish to politicise sports, but we have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate or put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE."

The three-week Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis, caused deep anger around the Arab and Muslim worlds. It ended in January.

Like most Arab nations, the UAE has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state and Israeli citizens are usually denied entry.

The refusal to issue a visa to Peer violates WTA Tour rules, which state that any player should be able to compete where she wishes if she has the required ranking.

A WTA board meeting in Indian Wells next month will discuss the tournament's future.

Peer, ranked 45th in the world, backed the WTA's decision to allow the tournament to be staged this week.

"While this is a very difficult moment for me personally and professionally, and the fact that the visa denial was issued at the last moment, I firmly believe that my fellow competitors should not be harmed the way I was," Peer said in a statement.

"They were in or on their way to Dubai and denying them the right to play in this year's tournament at the last moment would not make the wrong right.

"It troubles me greatly that my doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld from Germany will not be able to compete as we had planned.

"Going forward, I am confident that the Tour will take appropriate actions to ensure that this injustice is not allowed to occur in the future, and that the Tour will make sure I will not be further harmed in the short and long term.

"There should be no place for politics or discrimination in professional tennis or indeed any sport."

The episode could be replicated next week since Israel's doubles specialist Andy Ram has applied for a visa to compete in the men's Dubai tournament starting on Monday.

The ATP said it would review the status of the event once Ram is notified about his application.

"We are still waiting for an official decision on Andy Ram's visa application," an ATP spokesman said.

"Clearly this is an opportunity for the UAE to make the right decision."

Reuters

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. .....and you WEN are a great supporter of TSAHAL!!

    From dorin c, on Thu 19 Feb 4:34AM

  2. uae is a major supporter of hamas muslim terrorist.

    From wen, on Wed 18 Feb 5:43PM

  3. 777 WTA SHOULD JUST TOTALLY PULL OUT AND MOVE­ ELSEWHERE

    7677 NOW SASPO

    From sunita139, on Wed 18 Feb 5:37AM

  4. To be very fair, I don't even see why the other­ players of both ATP and WTA should consider going to­ Dubai and play. If it was happening to any other great­ sportsperson, say Federer, whose country attacked Gaza,­ I am not sure these so called fans or Dubai authorities­ would have refused him a visa!! Muslims are using a­ fake pretext to show their antisemitic hearts!
    Not all­ Israelis supported the war in Gaza and nothing tells­ them whether or not Peer was for the war. Condemning a­ whole tennis player because her country made war­ against terrorists, is just ludicrous! How can people­ support Hamas, a terrorist organisation, fathered by­ Iran and Syria leadership, whose aim is to accomplish­ their satanic and murderous goal: the destruction of­ Isreal? Shame on those who support Hamas ans shame on­ those who agree with the Dubai authorities on their­ action against Peer!

    From Pooks, on Wed 18 Feb 1:26AM

  5. Sherry G
    you are wrong. Hamas has been firing­ rockets­ for the last eight years, long before the block­ started. don't forget that people of Gaza are the­ ones who elected Hamas. they made their choice and now­ they have to pay the price. nothing of this would have­ happened if they elected Phatach, just like they did in­ the west bank.

    Hamas is the only one to blame for the­ suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Any­ gesture from the Israeli side is interpreted as a sign­ of weakness by the Arab world (both Hamas and Hisballa­ leaders talk about their victories, ye right that's­ why they hide in their shelters leaving their people­ out suffering!). Hamas understand power only, and power­ it got! Sad but true. It's in the hands of hamas­ leaders to stop the violence in the region, but i seems­ like they are not really interested...

    From pistol_p1, on Tue 17 Feb 10:42PM

  6. At the root of this problem is the inability of some­ people to accept the state of Israel where it is now.­ The whole world has been trying to broker peace for 60­ years but none of their leaders are strong enough to­ impose peace on his people. They have sabotaged every­ peace effort for all that time because there was no­ state of Israel during the 14th century in the Koran­ that the majority prays to now. It is disingenious for­ Sherry G to come here detailing the horrors of war that­ your people are suffering when surely the only­ practicable solution is for you to accept a peace­ treaty with Israel. In peace there are no casualties­ and you must as a people find the resolve to negotiate­ peace without fear of losing face. I pray that you find­ the answer.

    From SANCHEZ, on Tue 17 Feb 10:31PM

  7. Bored of this story now, just watch the tennis, who­ cares about the politics?? No one

    From justgetsnasty, on Tue 17 Feb 9:32PM

  8. If every tournament stopped a player from entering­ because their country has or had a history of violence­ against them,then there wouldn't be an WTA or ATP­ tour.The UAE tournament is poorer without Peer,what­ next ? Are they going to insist on the women wearing­ the burk-ha on court ? in fact ,the tennis court is­ probably the only place in the Arab world where a woman­ can wear a short skirt ,without being beaten ! If they­ ban Ram next week in the men's ,Take the men's­ and women's tournaments away from this retarded­ culture,they have have started on a slippery slope­ here,first tennis,then what ? golf ? rugby ? horse­ racing ? wont be a very popular place before long, if­ its boycotted by major sports stars,sponsors and­ fans.She came to play a tennis match,not to kill­ anyone.

    From carlos480bc, on Tue 17 Feb 9:11PM

  9. cas.hofstee my friend....
    Both sides excluding Hammas­ want peace.

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 7:54PM

  10. THAT HURTS...
    BTW, I MISS ALISON
    ALISON

    From cas.hofstee, on Tue 17 Feb 7:52PM

  11. Sherry G
    I promise you I think it's really very­ terrible the amount of suffering going on in Gazza.I­ don't agree that the rockets and constant treat of­ rockets being fired into Isreal are "less then a­ firework" as you say.One thing is quite obvious­ while Hamas is in power nothing can possibly change­ which is the real tragedy.Personally I would love to­ see a solution,but Hamas have to go and then a start­ can be made.......

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 7:52PM

  12. Sherry G
    I think rc_alock knows just fine. He just does­ not understand why those 2 groups have so much against­ peace?

    From cas.hofstee, on Tue 17 Feb 7:44PM

  13. Brilliant 10 minuites writting a responce and I get­ "invalid comment" !!!!

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 7:44PM

  14. rc_alcock
    It seems that you don't know the exact­ reason of firing these useless rockets, for your­ information the effect of these rockets are less than­ even a bullet or fireworks, they fire these rockets as­ a result of the block Israelis is doing to them. do you­ imagine more than 3 million souls don't have clean­ water to drink..because of the block. They don't­ have food to eat or to feed their children, because of­ the block. They don't have medicine to be cured­ from any illness.also because of the block. Israelis,­ and this is not a secret, is not allowing any aids to­ come into Gaza for several years now. People and­ children are dying because of this every day.
    If you­ were in their situation, will you just stand still?? I­ don't think so..because of this they are firing­ these useless rockets trying to do anything which will­ help them to break this block. Do you understand my­ point?? so there isn't anything called racism in­ disagreeing with Israel because they are killing these­ people...

    From Sherry G, on Tue 17 Feb 6:57PM

  15. Sorry Bobito ?
    I think you may have lost the plot a­ little!
    Why don't you go and crawl back under your­ stone......

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 6:17PM

  16. Sherry G
    Problem is it's not easy to convince­ Israelis to live in peace when Hamas has been firing­ rockets inti Isreal for years.
    Who do I support­ ??
    Anybody to tries to broker peace !!

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 6:16PM

  17. As always, Alcock's playground insults match the­ maturity of his opinions.

    From Bobito, on Tue 17 Feb 6:00PM

  18. rc_alcock
    not really, I only support any one who can­ convince Israelis to live in peace and let the others­ also live in peace...and what do you support??

    From Sherry G, on Tue 17 Feb 5:18PM

  19. Sherry G
    Do you support Hamas ?

    From Nicholas, on Tue 17 Feb 4:47PM

  20. e32767
    Does conscience mean admitting and accepting and­ encouraging killing poeple now a days????

    From Sherry G, on Tue 17 Feb 4:08PM
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