Possible threats against an Israeli tennis player led authorities to block her from a major women's tournament in Dubai, organizers said Tuesday as another showdown loomed between the Emirates' hunger for big-time sports events and its stance on the region's political tensions.
The statement by the Dubai Tennis Championships _ citing fan anger of Israeli's recent incursions into the Gaza Strip _ was its first detailed defense after the last-minute visa denial for Shahar Peer, who qualified as the 48th-ranked player in the world.
But it also appeared to push the United Arab Emirates into a corner with another possible fight ahead: a bid by Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram to play in the men's rounds next week.
The overseers of the world tennis tours _ still outraged by the snub of Peer just before the tournament began Sunday _ seemed determined not to ease up.
The Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, which runs the men's tour, said the UAE has an opportunity to "make the right decision." The women's tour has warned of fallout including possibly dropping Dubai from its calendar.
The nation is already feeling the sting from turning away Peer, who made a groundbreaking appearance last year in the nearby Gulf nation of Qatar and hoped to make her UAE debut.
Questions came immediately about the Emirates' credibility as a high-profile sports host if regional issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict can intrude. For the UAE, it's a serious and potentially costly dilemma.
Its main centers, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have used sports to enhance their international reputation as more than just places of skyscraper forests and headline-catching projects such as artificial islands and indoor skiing. The world's top athletes _ from Tiger Woods to marathoner Haile Gebrselassie _ are now regulars.
Yet the UAE also portrays itself as a champion of the Palestinians _ even canceling lavish New Year's celebrations in Dubai in solidarity with the Gazans.
"We do not wish to politicize sports, but we have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate or put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE," said the tournament organizer's statement, read to reporters by director Salah Tahlak.
It said the organizer, Dubai Duty Free, feared Peer's "presence would have antagonized our fans" because of the attacks in Gaza, which left about 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials.
Thirteen Israelis were killed, including three civilians before a tentative cease-fire halted fighting on Jan. 18.
There were concerns about protests, boycotts and threats to Peer's "well being," the statement continued.
Such demonstrations or security threats are rare in the Emirates, but the statement suggested there were particular worries of unrest from conservative factions or the many imported Muslim laborers from Pakistan and elsewhere.
The next possible challenge for the Emirates is whether to reverse course and allow in Ram, ranked No. 7 in the world in doubles.
Ram's lawyer, Amit Naor, told The Associated Press that the player is currently in Marseilles, France, and awaiting word if he will be allowed into Dubai.
"Andy wants to play, he's not interested in all the other stuff," he said.
"He's not looking for trouble, he's looking to play ... We thought politics was already out of sports," Naor added.
The ATP said it's awaiting "an official decision" on Ram's visa. His doubles partner is Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe.
Ben Nichols, a marketing official for the men's and women's tennis tournaments in Dubai, said that organizers were not aware of Ram's visa status.
Peer, in a written statement, noted the "tremendous outpouring of support and empathy" after the visa denial.
"Going forward, I am confident that the tour will take appropriate actions to ensure that this injustice is not allowed to occur in the future ... There should be no place for politics or discrimination in professional tennis or indeed any sport," said her statement.
The world No. 1 player Serena Williams of the United States, a member of the Women's Tennis Association players committee, said there was no talk of a boycott in Dubai, but the WTA was taking Peer's absence "very seriously."
The WTA tour has one of its last events of the season this fall in Qatar, which has been open to Israeli competitors in the past and has led Gulf outreach to Israeli political and business leaders.
But anger over the Gaza conflict brought an abrupt change in January, when Qatari officials hosted a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and expelled an Israeli trade office in the capital Doha.
On Monday, the president of the International Tennis Federation, the sport's governing body, said he plans to remind UAE authorities that the organization "does not permit discrimination on any grounds.
"The ITF believes that sport should not be used as a political tool but rather as a unifying element between athletes and nations," said Francesco Ricci Bitti.
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Associated Press Writer Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
