Shahar Peer
צילום: רויטרס
WTA, players rally behind Shahar Peer
(Video) UAE's decision to bar Israeli tennis player form Dubai Championships resonates as Women's Tennis Association threatens to cancel next year's tournament should incident repeat itself. 'All the players support Shahar,' says US tennis champion Venus Williams
VIDEO - The United Arab Emirates' decision to deny Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer the necessary entry visa to realm, which resulted in her being forces to drop out of the Dubai Tennis Championships, nearly jeopardized the entire competition, WTA Director Larry Scott told the New York Times on Monday.
Peer, who is ranked 48 in the world, was slated to play against Russia's Anna Chakvetadze in the singles and join forces with German Anna-Lena Groenefeld for the doubles.
The WTA “knew it was an issue, but we made it clear that she was going to be in the draw and we wanted to be optimistic that she would get the visa,” Scott said. “Then they waited until the 11th hour to deny it.”
The Dubai tournament began on Sunday and is scheduled to end on Saturday, February 21.
The organization then considered canceling the tournament, but avoided that course of action at Peer's request: "She and her family didn’t want all the players to be harmed because of one,” Scott said. “We talked to our players and told them that something terrible has happened here, but every single one would be punished if we were to cancel.”
Video: Reuters (צילום: רויטרס, עריכה: תמר אברהם)
As for next year, he said that "I made it clear to them that if Shahar were not allowed to play, they would run the risk of losing their tournament. It would be a big blow to lose one of this prestige and money, but if it comes to the principles of fairness and openness, there can be no compromise.”
"Naturally, this is very disappointing," Peer told Ynet upon returning to Israel. "This in one of the biggest tournaments of the year and unfortunately it means that I will lose my credits from last year. It puts a dent in our plans, but there is nothing I can do."
Peer has also gained the support of her fellow tennis players, who already arrived in Dubai: “All the players support Shahar,” American tennis champion Venus Williams told the New York Times. “We are all athletes, and we stand for tennis.”
