Anyone for Tennis?

Anyone for Tennis? Seriously. Anyone? The answer is a knee-jerk ‘no’ from the land which will soon claim both the world’s largest mall and the world’s tallest building in the Dubai Mall and the Burj Dubai (more like the ‘Splurge Dubai’), respectively. On the banks of the Persian Gulf, the capital of Middle East capitalism was tested and failed when it enforced a ban on Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer from entering the United Arab Emirates to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The U.A.E. was united in its rejection of Peer from entering its borders due to her Jewish blood claiming ‘security concerns’ as the motivation behind not providing her a visa. And the country paid a hefty fine to the Women’s Tennis Association for this blatant discrimination in the amount of US $300,000 before granting admission to Israeli doubles player Andy Ram in the Men’s tournament the following week as preliminary penance for this public fiasco. For a country whose white and red flag could be replaced with pure green without anyone noticing, the punishment hit them where it hurts: the pocketbook.

The economic bloodletting didn’t stop there. While the WTA reluctantly pushed forward with Barclay’s Dubai organizers to produce the event, the Tennis Channel chose not to broadcast it. Tennis Channel chairman and CEO Ken Solomon told The New York Times, “Sports are about merit, absent of backround, class, race, creed, color, or religion.”

Even money-hungry Rupert Murdoch didn’t want to touch the event with a ten-foot pole. The Wall Street Journal Europe dropped its sponsorship of the event explaining in a statement that the group’s philosophy built on ‘free markets and free people’ was compromised by banning the world’s 45th ranked tennis player for her ethnicity.

In free countries across the globe, the idea that Peer was rejected is appalling. The exclusion tears at the moral fabric of ideals on which free people are raised. While the country has no diplomatic relations with Israel, it wasn’t merely due to Israel’s incursions in the Gaza Strip that the government declined Peer’s visa as they originally claimed. In fact, this unjust policy held by the U.A.E. represents ideas which are not a far cry from the treatment unleashed on its own inhabitants.

For starters, there is no minimum wage. According to The Emirates Network (http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/employment.php), “there are people working 8 to 12 hours a day for US $8.” And to add insult to injury, “Many people driving to work spend 2 to 4 hours in traffic getting to and from work.” As the real-estate-dependent economy has worsened, people are leaving the country en mass. It's no coincidence that more than 3000 cars have been abandoned at the airport with the keys still in the ignition as defaulting on a car loan in Dubai warrants jail time.

This information may startle those who’ve watched the Travel Channel specials on the city. This commercial hub is known for the excess of its oil and real estate barrons flashing their immense collections of double-R’s (Rolls Royce’s and Range Rovers) and a sequoia forest full of sky scrapers on the southern edge of the Persian Gulf.

It’s an adult playground with indoor ski slopes and the largest aquarium in the world. Makes you wonder if a bunch of Sultans just sit around thinking about what will be the next 'largest in the world' edifice they will construct next! It's the Vegas of the Middle East. If you go, just don’t wander off the strip into the desert.

This vast gap separating the economic wellbeing of the rich and poor is a troubling issue, but what does this have to do with our now famous Israeli tennis player Peer? The answer lies in asking some important questions. Who gets the good jobs? What rewards are available to those of a particular ethnicity?

According to The Emirates Network, “Where you come from also affects the salary you get…[and] many companies require you to send a picture with your resume.” The sheer ‘look’ of a particular candidate is reason enough to turn them down for a position with the government or a private organization.

Apparently, discrimination is an institutionalized practice in the United Arab Emirates. It’s ingrained in its culture. So, when a tennis player from Israel makes the cut athletically, more than merely her body of work on the court is taken into account when judging her acceptability. Essentially, she was punished for the nation she represents. Who would stick up for Shahar Peer opposing this heinous act of exemption but one familiar with the battle for equality?

Equal rights campaigner who founded the WTA in 1973, Billie Jean King rebuked the U.A.E. calling its decision ‘shameful and definitely a step backwards’ in a statement. "In the 21st century,” she continued, “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.”

Notice how King’s comments focus on the sports struggle time continuum. She fought for decades for equality on the court devouring a womanizing foe much greater than Bobby Riggs; sexism in all sports. Today, she references a war she’s fought; a war against a greater discrimination consistent with her raison d’etre. No doubt, she takes this snub personally, and pleading politics wasn’t enough for the U.A.E.’s oligarchy to escape scrutiny from this equal rights activist and keeper of the flame.

Sultan al-Qurtasi was quoted by the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency saying the country’s decision to allow Ram to compete in the Men’s Tournament was an example of the “UAE's commitment to organize international sport, educational and economic events and activities without putting any boundaries in front of the participation of individuals from states represented in the United Nations.” A tail-between-the-legs offering which won’t save the nation from future negative attention and further economic fallout.

Although the U.A.E. has released a statement saying that Peer’s slot at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships will be guaranteed, the Women’s Tennis Association is considering moving the tournament. WTA chairman and CEO Larry Scott said, “Before I'm going to put Dubai on our 2010 calendar 100 percent there are additional guarantees, assurances and measures we are going to require to just make 100 percent sure what happened last week couldn't possibly happen again,” as reported by the International Herald Tribune.

Furthermore, “In an attempt to redress the wrongs suffered by Shahar Peer”, Scott awarded her US $44,250 and 130 ranking points consistent with her 2008 earnings, according to The Press Association. Her doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld received US $7,950 on that same scale.

”I hope and believe that from this day forward, athletes from all over the world will be able to compete in the UAE and anywhere else in the world without discrimination of any kind," Peer said in a statement. Anyone for tennis. Wouldn’t that be nice.