Tennis fails to bring on the love

BY NNENNA IBEANUSI

Politics and sports don’t mix well. Unfortunately for sports fans around the world, this has been the case at numerous recent events, becoming part of a trend that is leading towards the politicization of sports. Whether it’s the disruption of the international cricket match in Pakistan or the ban of an Israeli tennis player before a tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), these events have affected sports fans across the globe. Even more troubling is the fact that "security" concerns are being used as a means for host countries to unilaterally take actions that may hurt fans. These decisions are manipulating sports to make indirect political statements.

Dubai, the host city for the Barclays tennis tournament, shocked the tennis world by denying a visa to an Israeli tennis player, Shahar Peer. This moved sparked swift criticism and condemnation. Larry Scott, the chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Association Tour, said he would require a written guarantee that the UAE would not block Peer next year and a timeline to grant visas. Subsequently, the Tennis Channel withdrew its bid to televise the championship and the Wall Street Journal of Europe terminated their sponsorship of the event. After increased international pressure, Dubai had a reversal of opinion. Only two days later, they issued a visa to a male Israeli tennis player, Andy Ram, for the men’s tournament. The actions taken by Dubai reeked of political posturing, perhaps made more apparent by the statement issued by Salah Tahlek, stating "We do have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate and put to risk the players and the many fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE." While Dubai is attempting to characterize the visa denial as a security issue meant to protect an Israeli athlete, it is more likely that, disapproving of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, they are punishing the country through the institution of tennis.

Equally disheartening is the decision from the city of Malmo, the host city for the Davis Cup tennis tournament, to restrict spectators during matches of the Israeli tennis team because of safety concerns for the Israeli players. The combination of Malmo’s left-leaning local government and its sizable Muslim minority population left skeptical the idea that the local politicians wanted simply to avoid protests. Indeed, after the Gaza invasion, local leaders strongly criticized Israel. Even more spectacular was the call from city members to ban the matches against Israel altogether. The action by the city of Malmo may seem justified after footage of protesters during an Israeli match, but to single-handedly suspend ticket sales for a single country is indeed prejudice. While tennis is the target of many security threats and violent actions by spectators, never has the ban of ticket sales occurred. The mere thought of a tennis match without fans seems preposterous. The image of thousands of spectators watching and passionately cheering on their favorite team or player in a match is a crucial part of what makes sports special. Perhaps in a cruel twist of fate, the most riveting match of the tournament happened to be Israel’s defeat of Sweden. A home audience cheering the Swedish players could possibly have made the difference to the Swedish team. The unfortunate thing is that no one can know. The Swedish tennis federation chairman, Stephan Dahlbo characterized it best: "It’s an unfortunate consequence of individual politicians trying to score political points." It’s sad that in order to take a stance against Israel, both countries’ sports fans have to suffer by not being allowed to watch their teams.

The ambush in Lahore, Pakistan, illustrates the delicate position that sports authorities face when trying to consider safety concerns for players without compromising the integrity of the sport. The Sri Lankan cricket team was ambushed as they were heading to a match against the Pakistani team. Ultimately, eight people were killed in the attack and many of the players were wounded. Pakistan, which is already seen as a terror haven and a dangerous place for international teams, certainly did not have anything to gain from the attack, further highlighting the need for expanded government effort to crack down on extremists. This event shows that the politicization of sports can come from more than just politicians. In this instance it was outside actors, recognizing the unique normalcy that sports can bring to a society, who took the action of committing a deadly attack against a team of athletes. The perpetrators of the attack sought to further exclude Pakistan from the mainstream by making sure that not even sports is safe in the public sphere. The actions from the government in Pakistan must convey that sports are recognized as a national treasure, not a means to advance political grievances.

While there are many arenas where politics are relevant, sports should not be one of them. The aforementioned events set a very disturbing tone for sports in general, making events seem less inclusive, more hostile, and more prone to political influence. Although actions have been taken to ensure that these events do not occur, more needs to be done. In many nations of the world, sports are one of the few unifying forces amidst many cleavages. Sports must help uplift society by bringing together people from all backgrounds and making sure that there are no limits to this inclusion. In this way, the legitimacy that sports retain from avid fans everywhere will not be discredited.

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