This is turning out to be one of the craziest weeks in sports for quite awhile. We have the Alex Rodriguez baseball steroid scandal. Investigators have claimed that A-Rod injected steroids during the 2001-2003 baseball seasons. He is the highest paid player in professional baseball. Sad story!

Another sad story is playing out this week at the Barclays Dubai Professional Women’s Tennis Championships at the Dubai Tennis Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. Many of the world’s top professional female tennis players are competing for the top prize. Shahar Peer, the number 48th ranked female player in the world and who is from Israel, had an opportunity to play against the best competition in her sport. Not to mention that her ranking is high enough to get her into the main draw. The problem is the United Arab Emirates did not grant her a visa to enter the country, citing security reasons.
What a lot of people do not know is that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) sent an advanced security team to Dubai to access the situation. They reported back that everything was in place to ensure the players’ safety. After much discussion, the WTA announced that they will continue with the event. Sad! Where does this leave Peer and what kind of ramifications does this send to athletes around the world?
This does not end here. Next week in Dubai is the men’s professional tennis event. It just so happens that the number 7 doubles player in the world is from Israel. Andy Ram, guess where he wants to try and make a living next week. As of this publication he is still waiting to hear from the UAE government if they will grant him his visa. Andy, don’t hold your breath!
Also this week in tennis related issues, the Swedish Tennis Federation has announced that the first round of the Davis Cup match from March 6-8 in Malmo, Sweden between Israel and Sweden will be played in an empty 4,000 seat arena because of security concerns. The International Tennis Federation said in a recent statement that the decision by Malmo’s Recreational Committee was “very unfortunate” and “not in the long term interests of the Davis Cup.” Very sad!
The only bright spot in this week’s world of sports has come from the cable network, The Tennis Channel. They have the rights to cover the women’s final weekend of matches from Dubai. This is not going to happen after The Tennis Channel and their Chief Executive Director Ken Solomon said it is a no-go. They won’t be covering any tennis from Dubai and instead will be showing Shahar Peer’s best tournament performances all weekend long. One has to love The Tennis Channel and say “thank you” for stepping up to a truly honorable decision!
So folks, that is the week so far in sports. As for the WTA, Dubai, Swedish Tennis Federation – good luck with living with your decisions.

Personally, this writer thinks you are “weak.”

Until Next Time, Strength and Honor!
Steve “Lightning” Krulevitz