Reuters

London, Feb 19: Jewish leaders called for the Women's Tennis Association to sanction the Dubai Championships and cancel the event in 2010 after top Israeli player Shahar Peer was barred from competing at this year's tournament.

Peer had to forfeit her place in this week's event after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has no diplomatic links with Israel, denied her an entry visa into the country.

"To discriminate as the UAE did against one player in this way smacks of bigotry and racism," the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations said in a statement on Wednesday.

"This must be declared unacceptable by the WTA and all international sporting associations. As we learned in the past, failure to condemn such actions and take corrective measures, proves destructive to international sporting competition."

The statement also said: "Jewish leaders call on (the) Women's Tennis Association to sanction Dubai and cancel (the) tournament in 2010."

The refusal to issue a visa to Peer violates WTA Tour rules, which state that any player should be able to compete where she wishes if she has the required ranking.

The $2 million event had nine of the world's top 10 women in the field and from next Monday Dubai will host the men's tournament but the political row is expected to rumble on because Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram is in the field.

Tensions have been heightened by the three-week Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis. Although the conflict ended in January, it caused deep anger around the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Tournament officials defended their stance, saying local fans would have boycotted the event if an Israeli was allowed to compete and that Peer's safety could also have been compromised.

While players and the WTA Tour have condemned the stance taken by the UAE, Jewish leaders said the governing body of women's tennis, and its sponsors, must take a stronger stand.

"We regret the decision to allow the tournament to go ahead and call on the WTA board of directors to act decisively so that others considering similar exclusionary and discriminatory moves will be dissuaded," they added.

"The UAE's action is reminiscent of the Arab Boycott which we had all hoped was a thing of the past, especially in regard to sports events.

"The excuse that the UAE was concerned about Ms Peer's security is spurious. Any country that cannot assure the security of all players ... should not be allowed to host it.

"The Conference of Presidents also calls upon Sony Ericsson, sponsors of the tour, and Barclays, the sponsor of the Dubai championship tournament, to disassociate themselves from the UAE's actions and to drop their future sponsorship unless and until appropriate corrective measures are taken.

"The Conference further calls on the ATP not to go ahead with the upcoming men's tournament, if the UAE similarly denies Israeli men's player, Andy Ram, a visa."

The Tennis Channel, which had rights to broadcast the Dubai WTA event in the United States, has boycotted the tournament while the Wall Street Journal European edition has also withdrawn its sponsorship.