Security "Concerns"... Tennis
After political pressure from a United States Congressman, Israeli doubles specialist, Andy Ram, was given a visa to play in the ATP tournament in Dubai next week, less than seven days after Israeli, Shahar Peer, was denied a visa to play in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament in Dubai this week due to “security concerns.” Security has been an issue in professional tennis for years. For example, Monica Seles was attacked by a deranged
fan in Germany in the early 1990s; immediately after September 11th there some concerns regarding American tennis players competing overseas; Australian Lleyton Hewitt was concerned about playing a Davis Cup tie against Argentina in Buenos Aires in front of hostile fans after having had problems in a previous match against the Argentineans; and streakers have interrupted matches at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. At the moment, Israeli players seem to be at the forefront of the security-related concerns in professional tennis. The upcoming Davis Cup tie between Sweden and Israel will be played in an empty 4000 seat arena in Malmo, Sweden because of concerns about protests against the Israeli players related to Israel’s recent actions in the Gaza Strip. There is precedent for this. In 1975, two years after a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet against the elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende, Sweden played a Davis Cup match against Chile in an empty arena in Bastad. It’s sad when security issues intrude on international sporting events, but the Olympics have also had their share of political and security issues over the years. In the end, tournaments must provide players and fans with a safe environment in which to enjoy international tennis competition unhindered by political turmoil.
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