- Target:
- Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)/Women's Tennis Association (WTA)
- Region:
- GLOBAL
Recently, Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer attempted to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, she was denied a visa by the UAE because she holds an Israeli passport. More information on the incident is available here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3908957
Israeli doubles teammates, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, attempted to play in the tournament in 2008, but withdrew at the last minute for unknown reasons. Doug Robson explores this issue here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2008-03-30-israelis-dubai_N.htm
Although the pair claimed that they would attempt to play in 2009, neither of them are on the tournament's entry list. This petition requests that both the ATP and WTA refuse to endorse future tournaments in the UAE that are associated with their respective tours unless assurances can be made by the UAE government guaranteeing visas for all qualified players.
We, the undersigned, call on the ATP and WTA to discontinue endorsing tennis tournaments in the United Arab Emirates unless future assurances can be made by the UAE government guaranteeing visas for all qualified players wishing to participate.
We feel that it is inappropriate for international sporting organizations to support events in regions where all the players that the tours represent cannot compete.
A recent incident involving Israeli WTA player Shahar Peer (described here: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3908957) and an alleged situation involving Israeli ATP players Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (Doug Robson explores this issue here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2008-03-30-israelis-dubai_N.htm) violate not only the ideals of the ATP and WTA but also of international sports as a whole.
We ask that the ATP and WTA take leadership roles in ensuring that international sporting events in all regions are open to all qualified participants, regardless of nationality.
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The Support The Right Of Israeli Players To Compete In Dubai petition to Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)/Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was written by Chip M and is in the category Sports at GoPetition.