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Israel's Ram given visa to play in Dubai
http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCATRE51I3I320090219
Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:49pm EST
By Firouz Sedarat
DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will allow Israel's Andy Ram to play in the men's Dubai Championships next week, the state news agency WAM said on Thursday.
A UAE foreign ministry official was quoted as saying the doubles specialist would be given "special permission" to take part.
"This... does not politically imply any form of normalization with countries with which the UAE has no diplomatic relations," the official told WAM.
Top Israeli player Shahar Peer had to forfeit her place in the women's tournament in Dubai this week after the UAE blocked her visa application.
However, on Thursday Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief Larry Scott said he had been assured that all Israeli athletes would be given "a special permit" by the UAE government to enter the country if they have qualified for a tournament.
"We welcome the change of the UAE policy which will allow Andy Ram to play this week in Dubai and which clarifies that all Israeli athletes will be able to compete in future tournaments in UAE," Scott said in a statement.
AN EXCUSE
Tournament officials defended the stance to exclude Peer, saying local fans would have boycotted the event if an Israeli was allowed to compete and that her safety could also have been compromised.
"The fact that people want to harm the (Israeli players) is simply an excuse," Ram's regular doubles partner Jonathan Erlich, who has been sidelined with an injury, told Israeli Army Radio.
"As far as I'm concerned, they can surround the players with the entire army, the players need to be able to play."
The UAE, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic ties with Israel and routinely denies entry to its citizens.
Tensions have been heightened after the three-week Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis. Although the conflict ended in January it caused deep anger around the Arab and Muslim worlds.
The refusal to issue a visa to Peer violated WTA Tour rules, which state any player should be able to compete where she wishes if she has the required ranking.
After players, officials, Jewish leaders and even some sponsors condemned the UAE for excluding Peer, pressure mounted on the men's ATP tournament to be canceled if Ram was also denied entry.
"I am pleased that the UAE have today confirmed that I will be able to travel to their country next week to compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships," Ram said in a statement.
"As a professional tennis player, I thrive on competing at the world's best events and next week will be no different."
ATP chief Adam Helfant added: "The UAE government has made the right decision.
"No player, who qualifies to play an ATP World Tour event, should be denied their right to compete on the basis of ethnicity, nationality or religion and we are happy that the Dubai Tennis Championships and the UAE have shown that they share that view." If the ban on Israelis had persisted, tennis governing bodies warned future tournaments in Dubai could be scrapped.
Despite the u-turn by UAE authorities on Thursday, Scott said the WTA would still take action against the women's tournament for barring Peer.
"Shahar Peer is owed all of our thanks for her courage in challenging an unjust policy and for forcing action to be taken that resulted in today's announcement," Scott said.
"It is deeply regrettable that Shahar had to suffer the negative consequences of the UAE decision this past week in order for this policy to get turned around for the benefit of others.
"What happened to Shahar last week was discriminatory, reprehensible and unacceptable, and the Tour will shortly be determining remedies for her, penalties to be imposed on the tournament, and the additional assurances we will require to guarantee all Israeli athletes entry to the UAE so that future tournaments in the UAE may take place."
(additional reporting by Pritha Sarkar in London, editing by Tony Jimenez)
Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:49pm EST
By Firouz Sedarat
DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will allow Israel's Andy Ram to play in the men's Dubai Championships next week, the state news agency WAM said on Thursday.
A UAE foreign ministry official was quoted as saying the doubles specialist would be given "special permission" to take part.
"This... does not politically imply any form of normalization with countries with which the UAE has no diplomatic relations," the official told WAM.
Top Israeli player Shahar Peer had to forfeit her place in the women's tournament in Dubai this week after the UAE blocked her visa application.
However, on Thursday Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief Larry Scott said he had been assured that all Israeli athletes would be given "a special permit" by the UAE government to enter the country if they have qualified for a tournament.
"We welcome the change of the UAE policy which will allow Andy Ram to play this week in Dubai and which clarifies that all Israeli athletes will be able to compete in future tournaments in UAE," Scott said in a statement.
AN EXCUSE
Tournament officials defended the stance to exclude Peer, saying local fans would have boycotted the event if an Israeli was allowed to compete and that her safety could also have been compromised.
"The fact that people want to harm the (Israeli players) is simply an excuse," Ram's regular doubles partner Jonathan Erlich, who has been sidelined with an injury, told Israeli Army Radio.
"As far as I'm concerned, they can surround the players with the entire army, the players need to be able to play."
The UAE, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic ties with Israel and routinely denies entry to its citizens.
Tensions have been heightened after the three-week Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis. Although the conflict ended in January it caused deep anger around the Arab and Muslim worlds.
The refusal to issue a visa to Peer violated WTA Tour rules, which state any player should be able to compete where she wishes if she has the required ranking.
After players, officials, Jewish leaders and even some sponsors condemned the UAE for excluding Peer, pressure mounted on the men's ATP tournament to be canceled if Ram was also denied entry.
"I am pleased that the UAE have today confirmed that I will be able to travel to their country next week to compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships," Ram said in a statement.
"As a professional tennis player, I thrive on competing at the world's best events and next week will be no different."
ATP chief Adam Helfant added: "The UAE government has made the right decision.
"No player, who qualifies to play an ATP World Tour event, should be denied their right to compete on the basis of ethnicity, nationality or religion and we are happy that the Dubai Tennis Championships and the UAE have shown that they share that view." If the ban on Israelis had persisted, tennis governing bodies warned future tournaments in Dubai could be scrapped.
Despite the u-turn by UAE authorities on Thursday, Scott said the WTA would still take action against the women's tournament for barring Peer.
"Shahar Peer is owed all of our thanks for her courage in challenging an unjust policy and for forcing action to be taken that resulted in today's announcement," Scott said.
"It is deeply regrettable that Shahar had to suffer the negative consequences of the UAE decision this past week in order for this policy to get turned around for the benefit of others.
"What happened to Shahar last week was discriminatory, reprehensible and unacceptable, and the Tour will shortly be determining remedies for her, penalties to be imposed on the tournament, and the additional assurances we will require to guarantee all Israeli athletes entry to the UAE so that future tournaments in the UAE may take place."
(additional reporting by Pritha Sarkar in London, editing by Tony Jimenez)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ahmed Osman on -
What do we expect from little countries with small rulers to do when the big ones do worse than that . The arab countries are all ruled by midgets who dont respect themselves or their people . We all deserve what is befalling us because we are simply cowards and accept to be ruled by opportunists , crooks and traitors to their nation . I think Dubai should havedacted differently from the beginning , either give him a visa to come and not face such an embarresing situation . But to refuse and then allow ,,,no state with dignity and honour should do that......IT IS A JOKE ,,,,, ONLY IN ARAB COUNTRIES
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Permalink Reply by Hajja Romi Elnagar on -
These Isreaelis have some really weird ideas of what people need: "...Ram's regular doubles partner Jonathan Erlich, who has been sidelined with an injury, told Israeli Army Radio...'As far as I'm concerned, they can surround the players with the entire army, the players need to be able to play.'"
Excuse me, but people don't "need" to play tennis!
They DO, however, NEED to eat.
I guess that doesn't apply to people in Gaza, though. THEY don't need food, I guess, or water, electricity or medicine, either.
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Permalink Reply by Meena Sharma on -
To me this is a very stange policy of UAE to allow some athlete to play and some do get to play. Why UAE wants to be a embaressment to the world? Stay firm to say 'NO" to Israeli. Israel has shed so much blood of Arabs since the Isarel was became a country which is on the graves of Arabs and still Ethnic Cleansing going on every where on Palestinian land..still Israel has gusts to ask thier people should be treated with respect? Players or professors or artist of all kinds...shame to Israel! and shame to UAE being a Arab nation..
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Permalink Reply by emman randazzo on -
what's reprehensible is dubai.....cowards.
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Permalink Reply by Einar Schlereth on -
Oh yes, these little bastards wanted to be courageous but then they became afraid about the consequences. It's not easy to go straight if you don' t have a spine.
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Permalink Reply by linda on -
generally speaking, and as a member in a humanitarian orgaization holding humanitarian saving dignity beliefes,,, besides recently working in Sports fields( started two years ago), i trust all humans should get the same rights in all fields, one is being honestly compititives... but i'm afraid those people knows only one side of rights: which is theirs' ... they need to see, and actually they are seeing, the real feeling towards what's been taken from our children' simpler sports compititions: THEY CAN'T PLAY SAFE IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE, so in what right we can let those compete honestly amongst us.
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Permalink Reply by Iqbal Tamimi on -
linda said:
Dear Lindgenerally speaking, and as a member in a humanitarian orgaization holding humanitarian saving dignity beliefes,,, besides recently working in Sports fields( started two years ago), i trust all humans should get the same rights in all fields, one is being honestly compititives... but i'm afraid those people knows only one side of rights: which is theirs' ... they need to see, and actually they are seeing, the real feeling towards what's been taken from our children' simpler sports compititions: THEY CAN'T PLAY SAFE IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE, so in what right we can let those compete honestly amongst us.
What you are talking about applies to states that respect human dignity and law, not a state that imprison sport players and bomb sport facilities and playgrounds, and deprive Palestinian players from travelling or participating in any other country. Even academics of conscious decided to boycott academic institutions in Israel. Such stand is not meant to be against individuals, it is to show aggressive state that should it not respect international law it will be isolated. Tell me what those Israeli sport celebrities have done to show their stand of killing their own colleagues? ... nothing... sport is supposed to be like art... it is supposed to come with a mission of ethics.
Even those sport celebrities are used by their own country for political manipulations...I myself lost respect to UAE for such weakness... the people in UAE hated to see their brothers in Palestine being killed and burned alive, but the governments never cared a damn about the feelings of the nation, all it cares about that they can't handle the pressure from USA or lose revenues that come with such activities... which is totally ridiculous.
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