Sports Trumps Politics as Israeli Star Shahar Peer Arrives for Bali Tournament
“Shahar Peer arrived in Bali for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions without much controversy, and praised Indonesia for granting her an entry visa.”
However, Indonesia does not recognize Israel as a state, has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel and does not ordinarily accept Israeli passports. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that while it could not control who would play in the tournament, it would take steps to ensure that no “Israeli objects” were displayed during the sports event.
Indonesia initially balked at Pe’er’s participation in the tournament, but the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) threatened to cancel the tournament in Bali if Pe’er was not invited – and she was issued an entry visa into the country. Earlier in 2009, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record $300,000 after denying Pe’er an entry visa.