Sports and politics should not mix: good advice for any athlete. Sure, there is a litany of sporting events that have come with political implications – look no further than the 1980 Winter Olympics’ “Miracle on Ice” – but politics should never get in the way of athletes being able to compete on the world stage. Yet this was exactly what transpired at a recent women’s tennis tournament in Dubai.

Israeli player Shahar Peer, the 45th-ranked player in women’s tennis, qualified for the Dubai Tennis Classic by virtue of her ranking. The tournament, the premier tennis competition in the Middle East, boasted nine of the 10 top-ranked players as well as a total prize purse of over $2 million (no one seems to have told tennis about the worldwide recession). The United Arab Emirates, which maintains no diplomatic ties with Israel, denied Peer a visa to enter the country – a decision fully supported by the organizers of the tournament.

The decision was met with almost immediate condemnation in the international sporting community, but the tournament’s organizers were penalized with only a fine (albeit a $300,000 one) by the Women’s Tennis Association. Players came out in support of Peer but most refused to call for a boycott of the tournament; WTA CEO Larry Scott was saddened by the decision, but apparently not saddened enough – he did not call for any sanction on the tournament, in spite of the organizers’ clear violation of the WTA bylaws, one of which mandates the inclusion of any player into a tournament that she has qualified for by her rank.

It appears as though the power of an oil-soaked dirham (the currency of the UAE) is more persuasive than the right of a world-class athlete to compete. It is clear that Scott made his decision to protect the finances of the tour, as opposed to taking a stand to support the integrity of the WTA and, more importantly, the integrity of tennis as a whole.

Where was his consideration for the bylaws of the WTA? What happened to the pan-nationalism that tennis has bred around the world? The same sport that has given prominence to tiny nations like Serbia now finds itself party to an instance of blatant anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Scott’s decision has undermined the capability of tennis – and sport in general – to transcend national boundaries.

Can you imagine the controversy that would have erupted if the Williams sisters had been denied a visa to play in Dubai after the U.S. invasion of Iraq? The tournament would have been canceled, and the tennis community probably would have severed its tenuous, lucrative relationship with the United Arab Emirates.

Scott alone cannot be criticized for destroying the integrity of the WTA – the blame for that is shared by the players as well. Billie Jean King and Venus Williams, two of the most respected women in tennis, have been instrumental in fighting discrimination within professional tennis – but have taken a weak stand in this case.

It is hard to imagine Williams advocating the continuation of a tournament that barred players based on their race. In fact, Venus and Serena Williams have yet to return to the tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., based on what they have described as “blatant racism” they experienced there in 2001. While many players have issued statements supporting Peer, their “do as I say, not as I do” approach does nothing to prevent this from happening again.

Whether the Williams sisters asked for it or not (and to a large part they have), they are the torch-bearers for equality in the game, following in the footsteps of Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson and Billie Jean King. In this case, they simply failed to uphold that responsibility.

On the men’s side, Adam Helfant, the new CEO of the Association of Tennis Professionals (the men’s tour), took a much tougher stance, giving the tournament a Friday deadline to issue a male Israeli player, Andy Ram, a visa or risk having the tournament canceled. The organizers promptly wilted and gave him a “special permit.” Helfant’s brave move solidified the integrity of the ATP and cost him not one penny in endorsements; it allowed Andy Ram to prove that sports does transcend geopolitical boundaries.

Andy Roddick, the sixth-ranked player in men’s tennis, announced that he will not participate in this week’s ATP event in Dubai in light of Peer’s exclusion.

Scott and the WTA should look to Helfant and Roddick, their counterparts in the tennis world. It is time to protect the integrity and fairness of a sport, not your bank account. In the end, if your sport has no integrity, there will be no need for that large (oil-laced) bottom line.

David Hammerman is a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business and a sports staff writer for The Hoya.

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