New York / Brussels
18 February 2009
Exclusion of Israeli players from tennis tournament "scandalous", says Ronald Lauder
Lauder criticizes "docile reaction of international sport bodies"
Following the withholding of entry visas for the two Israel participants in the Dubai Tennis Championships by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder, has called on international sporting federations to suspend all events in the UAE until fair and equal treatment for all players, including Israeli ones, is ensured. "It is scandalous that some governments mix up politics and sport. That shouldn't happen," he said, referring to similar incidents in the past involving other Islamic countries that forbid their citizens to compete with Israeli players or teams at big events. Shahar Peer was to play in the women's tournament and denied a visa, whilst Andy Ram is to play in the men's event next week and still awaiting a permit.
Lauder called on international sports federations such as the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the International Olympic Committee to take strong action against countries such as the UAE who denied players visas on the grounds of not being able to provide security. "If security cannot be provided to the contestants, perhaps tournaments should be held elsewhere," he pointed out. "In any event, until the UAE authorities change their visa policies with regard to Israeli citizens contesting sports events, no major events should be held there for the time being."
The WJC president also criticized what he called the "faint-hearted" response of the WTA and the ATP vis-à-vis the Dubai event organizers. "This tournament should have been cancelled immediately when the decision was taken to exclude Shahar Peer. The feeble reaction by the international governing bodies of tennis was not encouraging, and one would have expected a stronger reaction by other players which alas didn't materialize," Lauder said, adding that Israeli players should be able to compete in any sporting event, like everybody else.
Ronald Lauder expressly welcomed the reaction of sponsors of the Dubai Tennis tournament such as the Wall Street Journal which had withdrawn support for the event after learning of the exclusion of the two players. "A similar decision from the main sponsors, Sony Ericsson and Barclays Bank, would have been welcome. Perhaps they will take note next time round," Lauder said.
