Here's what they had to say:"It's not acceptable. I think sport should be above issues like that to do with religion and wars and whatever. I'm surprised."
- Amelie Mauresmo
"All the players support Shahar. We are all athletes and we stand for tennis. The players have to be unified and support the Tour whichever direction they take on the issue"
- Venus Williams
"It's very unfortunate, I feel very sorry for her. Shahar is a friend of mine and I feel sorry she's not here. It's always a pity to mix politics and sport. But the WTA is looking into it."
- Ana Ivanovic
"I feel very sorry for her. She's a very good girl and very sensitive. I played her in Auckland and there was some kind of demonstration during the match. I just feel sad for her. She really cares about what's going on between Israel and Palestine and it's just a very tough situation. I think the tour takes it seriously and I wish she could play in Dubai."
- Elena Dementieva
"The United Arab Emirates' refusal to grant a visa to Shahar Peer and preventing her from competing at this week's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in Dubai is shameful and definitely a step backwards. In the 21st century there is no reason a person should be restricted from doing his or her job because of their nationality, creed, race, gender or sexual orientation. Given the progress we have made in providing equal rights and opportunities for all, I trust the WTA Tour will look closely at the events in Dubai and take every step possible to ensure this type of distraction never happens again."
- Billie Jean King
"It's pretty disappointing she's not playing here. She's a great player and a great athlete. I hope she will have many more chances. I think the WTA is doing its best for them."
- Dinara Safina
Shahar herself spoke to the CNN about the whole situation:"I was very, very disappointed. It's a few things. First of all, it's my career. It's a big tournament, 2 Mio Dollars tournament and all the good players are playing there. And you know, I've been playing very good, Fed Cup and now Pattaya semifinals, and I'm on a good roll and good momentum. I don't think it should happen. I think sports and politics has stay on the side, not to be involved, So I really hope it's not going to happen again, to not only me, but ti any other athlete."
Wise words from all the girls. It's good to see some integrity on the Tour and let's hope incidents like this won't happen ever again! Even the Tennis Channel has cancelled its planned broadcast from Dubai as a sign of protest!
~jachal
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2 comments:
Never thought Peer is so liked amongst players
Jen, it's not a question of like. It's a question of justice. Sport can't be limited by politic/religion questions. In the ancient greece all wars were stoped to play the olympic games. Thats the spirit.
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