Thank Tennis Channel, WTA, WSJ & Andy Roddick for Standing Against Dubai’s Bigotry

By Guest Column —— Bio and Archives February 26, 2009

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Steve Stotsky, Senior Research Analyst Camera.org At a time when anti-Israel prejudice has become commonplace, it is encouraging to learn of a recent example where an attempt to exclude Israelis was rebuked.

Just 12 hours before a major tennis tournament was scheduled to begin in Dubai, Israeli women's contender, Shahar Peer, was denied a visa by United Arab Emirates authorities, making it impossible for her to compete in the tournament. Ken Solomon, the president of the Tennis Channel, which possesses exclusive rights to televising the tournament, interrupted his vacation to announce on Feb. 17 that the Tennis Channel was canceling its telecast of the tournament. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal Europe also announced that it had withdrawn its sponsorship of the tournament and that it would drop a special tennis-themed advertising section scheduled for later that week. Additionally, WSJ Europe canceled its sponsorship of the men's tournament scheduled for the following week in Dubai. Larry Scott, the Chairman and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, which serves as a governing body for professional tennis, announced that it was levying a $300,000 fine against the Dubai organizers. Scott also indicated that the WTA would review Dubai's future hosting of the tournament and that this would hinge on Peer being allowed to participate next year. In a statement on February 19th, after the United Arab Emirates announced it would issue a visa to Israeli tennis player Andy Ram, Scott said:

...We thank all of the many organizations and individuals that rallied behind Shahar and pressed the UAE to change their discriminatory stance. It is deeply regrettable that Shahar had to suffer the negative consequences of the UAE's 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.

On February 20th, after imposing a stiff fine and conditions on UAE, Larry Scott, Chairman & CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, stated:

"The actions taken today are intended to redress the wrongs suffered by Shahar Peer, who was victimized by an unjust policy of discrimination by the UAE. These actions are also intended to send a clear message that our Tour will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and that we will never allow this situation to happen again, in UAE or elsewhere. Thanks to the courage of Shahar, and all those individuals and organizations - including her fellow players - that supported her, the UAE has changed their policy and another barrier of discrimination has fallen."

Click here to read his full statement and the penalties assessed against Dubai. Andy Roddick, last year's winner in Dubai, withdrew from the tournament to protest Dubai's exclusion of Shahar Peer. He was the only player to take this forthright and clear action. (Kudos to Lisa Olson who wrote about Roddick's courage in her column at Fanhouse. ) Venus Williams played in and won the tournament, but she made sure that Shahar and the UAE's blatant discrimination against her were not forgotten during the victory celebration. During Venus' victory statement, she said it was "a shame that one of our players couldn't be here." (AFP, Feb. 22, 2009) When asked about her statement later, Venus said:

"I thought she had to be mentioned and I felt I was going to, whether anyone else did or not," said Wimbledon champion Williams, when it was remarked that she was the only one at the prize-giving ceremony to recall what had happened. "I had the opportunity because I had the microphone. I thought how brave she (Peer) was to come over here, to play in Doha (last year), and suddenly here not (allowed to). "I thought of Althea Gibson who was excluded," she continued referring to the woman who overcame discrimination and exclusion to become Wimbledon's first black champion in 1957... "My dad grew up in a place where if you spoke too much, it was your life. I had a small opportunity to say something where everyone would listen. "It also made me think of all the people who gave something for me to be here. I am not here to rock the boat or upset anyone - I'm just here to try to do what's right, to represent what's right, and I think the right things will happen next week on the men's tour. "I think a lot of that was because of what Shahar went through, because everyone cared." "I feel confident everyone will have the opportunity to play next year. If that wasn't the case then we would evaluate but everyone has had the opportunity to do the right thing," she said referring to the visa given to Andy Ram, another Israeli to play in the men's ATP event here next week.

Newsweek said that it supports "assuring that tournaments are open to all qualified players in the future." Newsweek further stated: "If Israeli player Andy Ram is not permitted to enter Dubai to play in the men's tournament, which begins Monday, Newsweek will withdraw from sponsoring the event." (WSJ, Feb. 18, 2009) It's not clear why Newsweek felt it had to wait for another Israeli to be discriminated against before it would withdraw its sponsorship, but at least they put Dubai on notice that there would be consequences for further exclusion of Israelis. Apparently, the Dubai organizers got the message and announced they were issuing a visa for another Israeli, Andy Ram, scheduled to compete in the Men's doubles competition. For many sponsors, it was business as usual, with no thought of taking a stand against discrimination. Barclay's Bank, the main sponsor of the tournament, released a statement that the bank's sponsorship deal "does not allow us to interfere with any actions or decisions that have to do with the tournament itself, or the players, or the regulations of the host country." (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 18, 2009) In other words, it's okay with them if Israelis are not allowed to play in a tournament they are co-sponsoring. Rolex did not respond to a request for a comment. (WSJ, Feb. 18, 2009) Sony Ericsson simply stated that it stood by the decision of the Women's Tennis Association. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the top two players in the world, pulled out of the tournament due to injuries not moral outrage. ACTION ITEMS *Write to Ken Solomon, Larry Scott, the Wall Street Journal Europe and Andy Roddick expressing your admiration and support for their principled stand against bigotry. Email Ken Solomon via the Tennis Channel: viewerresponse@tennischannel.com or call in your support for Solomon's decision not to air the tournament: (310) 314-9400. The Women's Tennis Association web site has a place to submit online comments. Thank CEO Larry Scott for his strong condemnation of Dubai's discriminatory actions against Israeli Shahar Peer. Tennis player Andy Roddick has a web site. Please send him a note thanking him for his clear and courageous stand against bigotry. Send a letter to: Andy Roddick c/o Andy Roddick Foundation 5458 Town Center Road #13 Boca Raton, FL 33486 * Consider also writing to Barclay's Bank, Rolex, and Sony Ericsson to politely express your disappointment that they did not forthrightly condemn Dubai's bigotry. Barclay's CEO is Marcus Agius. Write to him at Barclays PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP.The bank also has a Public Policy and Sustainability department. Send them an email: sustainability@barclays.com Rolex - The USA office is : Rolex Bldg., 665 5th Ave., New York, NY10022, United States or call at (800)367-6539, (212)758-7700, (212)371-0371 fax Sony-Ericsson Corporation- Ericsson has a Corporate Responsibility Department. The company has a code of conduct which explicitly states it opposes all forms of discrimination. Remind them that their corporate image is associated with their sponsorship of the tennis tournament and that the company should speak out unequivocally against the discrimination evident in Dubai. The CEO of Sony-Ericsson is Dick Komiyama. Send an email via press.global@sonyericsson.com or you can write to the company at: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB Nya Vattentornet,221 88 Lund, Sweden * Please send CAMERA a blind copy (bcc) of your letters: letters@camera.org With thanks, Steve Stotsky Senior Research Analyst [url=http://www.camera.org]http://www.camera.org[/url]