Courageous Andy Roddick retires
Jews will fondly remember Grand Slam winner and all - round great guy Andy Roddick as the only player to withdraw fom the Dubai Barclays/ United Arab Emirates tennis tournament in February 2009, as a protest against Israeli Player Shaha Peer being denied a visa to play!
His advertisements were great: remember 'Pong'? And those trophies? We all wish him well in his recently announced retirement.
GS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Tennis_Championships
Dubai Tennis Championships
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shahar Pe'er controversy
In February 2009, Israeli player Shahar Pe'er was prevented from playing at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, as she was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Tournament director Salah Tahlak said that Pe'er was refused on the grounds that her appearance could incite anger in the Arab country, after she had already faced protests at the ASB Classic over the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.[1]
A number of top-seeded players, among them Venus Williams,[2] condemned the action to not grant Pe'er a visa. WTA chief executive Larry Scott said the women's tour was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. "Ms Pe'er has earned the right to play in the tournament and it's regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right", he said. "Ms Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally." Scott said the WTA would "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament".[3] In reaction to the move, the Tennis Channel decided not to televise the event,[4][5] and The Wall Street Journal dropped its sponsorship.[6] Scott said that he had considered cancelling the tournament, but chose not to after consulting Pe'er.
The rejection of the tennis player's visa application violates WTA rules, which state that no host country should deny a player the right to compete at a tournament for which she has qualified by ranking.[7] The WTA held the tournament accountable in part because of its sponsorship by Dubai Duty Free, a government enterprise, and also because the event was "Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai."[8] In response to the refusal of the UAE to issue the visa, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record US$300,000. The fine was appealed by DTC, but the WTA Tour Board rejected the appeal.[9] The tour also demanded that Dubai organizers confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance for the 2010 event.[9] Pe'er was awarded US$44,250, an amount equal to the average prize money she earned per tournament in 2008.[10] A number of highly-ranked tennis players, including 2008 winner Andy Roddick, pulled out of the men's ATP tournament in Dubai in protest. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also pulled out of the tournament, although they both cited injury as their reason for withdrawal, not the incident involving Pe'er. As a result, the UAE issued Andy Ram a visa for the men's tournament.[8]
