Shame On Women’s Tennis

While most of us were swept up in the A-Rod nonsense, this story flew under the radar, and it’s one that arguably should leave you MORE outraged.

Turns out women’s tennis player Shahar Peer was barred from competing at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (which began Monday) because she is Israeli.

The United Arab Emirates denied Peer, the 48th-ranked female tennis player in the world, a visa to play in their lucrative ($2 million) tournament despite Peer qualifying as per ATP/WTA standards.

The UAE government cited concerns for Peer’s safety, saying local fans would boycott the tournament given Israel’s military involvement in Gaza. Meanwhile the tournament has gone on as scheduled.

From where I’m sitting, this is an OUTRAGE and the WTA missed a huge opportunity to take a stand against outright racism.

While some organizations have protested the decision (The Tennis Channel won’t broadcast the tournament and the Wall Street Journal has pulled sponsorship), the WTA should have removed it’s players from the tournament.

When they chose not to, individual players should have backed out of the tournament on their own. Nobody did. Most expressed outrage that Peer wasn’t allowed to compete, but none left in protest.

This is a black eye for the WTA, an organization that prides itself on equality for its competitors. Much like the sexism pioneering athletes such as Billy Jean King overcame, the discrimination leveled at Peer should have struck a nerve with the tour.

King herself weighed in on the controversy today, calling Peer’s banishment “shameful and definitely a step backwards.” King also said the WTA should consider the UAE’s actions when thinking about holding future tournaments in the country.

The WTA should have taken a stand when one of it’s own was discriminated against. Because it didn’t, I say shame on the WTA.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle