Dubai Tennis, Williams Sisters, Roddick, World Reaction

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Dubai has been hosting a tennis tournament this week with international stars, under the aegis of the WTA, which has fined them 300,000 dollars for refusing to allow an Israeli woman entry into the tournament.

The rationale for the exclusion was given in this statement by the Dubai organizers :

Dubai organizers said they feared a threat to the player's safety because of public opinion on the Gaza conflict.

While playing in a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand in January, Peer had to contend with a noisy protest over Israel's invasion of Gaza.

"Public sentiment remains high in the Middle East and fans and we have watched live television coverage of the recent attacks in Gaza. We believe that Shahar Peer's presence would have antagonised our fans," tournament director Salah Tahlak said in a prepared statement.

"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 here and her presence triggering similar protests.

The World Tennis Association has taken steps to punish the Dubai organizers:

From France 24: "AFP - Organisers of the Dubai women's tennis tournament were fined 300,000 dollars by the WTA Tour on Friday after the United Arab Emirates refused to grant a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer, the WTA said in a statement.
   
"The actions taken today are intended to redress the wrongs suffered by Shahar Peer, who was victimized by an unjust policy of discrimination by the UAE," WTA Tour chairman Larry Scott said.
   "These actions are also intended to send a clear message that our Tour will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and that we will never allow this situation to happen again, in the UAE or elsewhere."

Some have chosen to boycott the event because of the discrimination.

From Yellow Limes: "MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AFP) — America's Andy Roddick says he won't defend his title at the Dubai ATP tournament next week in protest at the UAE's refusal to grant a visa to Israel's Shahar Peer at the WTA event at the same venue."

Media have taken stands as well, both print and television:

The Tennis Channel has refused to carry the tournament: ""This is an easy decision to come by, based on what is right and wrong," Tennis Channel chairman and CEO Ken Solomon told The New York Times. "Sports are about merit, absent of background, class, race, creed, color or religion. They are simply about talent. This is a classic case, not about what country did what to another country. If the state of Israel were barring a citizen of an Arab nation, we would have made the same decision."

"Tennis Channel recognizes that this exclusion has been made by state authorities and neither the tour nor tournament directors themselves," said a statement posted on the channel's Web site Wednesday. "However we also honor the role and proud tradition that tennis has always played as a driving force for inclusion both on and off the courts.

"Preventing an otherwise qualified athlete from competing on the basis of anything other than merit has no place in tennis or any other sport, and has the unfortunate result of undermining the credibility of the very nature of competition itself."

From CNN: "The announcement comes the same day The Wall Street Journal Europe announced it is dropping its sponsorship of the tournament.

"The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the Journal said in a written statement."

As to the players themselves who have chosen to participate:

According to Tennis X: “All the players support Shahar,” Venus Williams told the AP, adding the qualifier that “support” means following whatever the WTA does. “The players have to be unified and support the tour whichever direction they take on the issue.”

However despite this apparent statement of support, many have been openly critical of the Williams sisters continuing to play in the tournament.

Especially disconcerting to many has been the apparent double-standard of the Williams Sisters who have refused to play in one locale because of a racist remark directed at them in the past.

From Tennis X:  "Speaking of things spiraling, the WTA will face ANOTHER big test of character next month in Indian Wells.

The strict new 2009 WTA rules say the top players must play all the top events, including Indian Wells. Indian Wells is where the Williams sisters say they will not play (and haven’t played for years) after experiencing what they termed a racist incident (getting booed after Venus pulled minutes before an all-Williams semifinal citing a knee injury. Poppa Richard Williams also claimed he heard racist remarks shouted from the crowd).

Rather than forcing the Williams to abide by the rules and play Indian Wells, the tour has created what many are calling the “Williams Rule,” where instead of playing the event they can perform certain media duties to promote the event or event location."

Criticism of the Williams Sisters comes from the LA Times sports journalist Kurt Streeter: who didn't buy Venus Williams' statement of support coming without any real action on her part:

In response to Venus Williams' statement: "I thought it was unfair. We're all very supportive of Shahar. . . . We are all athletes, and we stand for tennis."

Kurt Streeter wrote:  Apparently, Venus stands for more than just tennis. Last week, moneyed interests outweighed doing what is right. "The big picture is that Shahar Peer didn't get a chance to play," she said. "But making an immediate decision we also have to look at sponsors. . . . We wouldn't be here without sponsors and we can't let them down."

I'm sorry, but that's not good enough. If Shahar Peer were black, Latino or Asian, and the tournament had discriminated against her based on race, it's a good bet the Williams sisters, and most of the field, would have shown justifiably unfettered anger. At the least, boycotts and walk-outs would have been deeply considered.

Instead, the players didn't even call a meeting, according to Jankovic. They couldn't come up with anything as bold as wearing black wristbands, en masse, to protest."

As to Venus Williams' priorities: From sports.scotsman.com, Venus is quoted as saying:
"We can't let our sponsors down. Whatever we do we need to plan it as a team; players, sponsors, Tour, and not all just break off in one direction.

"We have sponsors and fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament (to think about]. We're going to consider what our options are next year ... there are rules and protocol as to how you can proceed."