While tournament officials issue the public tisk, tisk, shame, shame, and threaten to take action, possibly next year, the Wall Street Journal and The US Tennis Channel have a set of balls and is not afraid to use them. The Jerusalem Post:
The Wall Street Journal Europe announced Tuesday that it had revoked its sponsorship of a Dubai women's tennis tournament, due to the United Arab Emirates' refusal to issue an entry visa for Israel's Shahar Pe'er.
"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 Europe said in a statement. It added that it was also withdrawing its sponsorship of the men's tournament beginning next week. In the US, the Tennis Channel has said it won't broadcast the event.
The Women's Tennis Association has threatened to strike the lucrative Dubai tournament from the tennis calendar due to recent developments. Larry Scott, head of the WTA tour, said Monday that barring entry to Pe'er could have ramifications beyond tennis because it threatens the principle that sports and politics should not mix. The organizers of the Dubai women's tournament claimed on Tuesday that possible threats against Pe'er led authorities to block her from receiving a visa.
This isn’t an issue of sports and politics, although I can see why Larry Scott and the UAE would like to frame it that way and cite ‘security concerns’. The issue is sports and bigotry, specifically, the Arab world’s ongoing attachment to Jew hatred.
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