Andy Roddick takes a stand against mixing politics and sports
By RUSTY HALL
crhall@star-telegram.com
Few sports figures deserve to wear the red, white and blue more than Andy Roddick, who fittingly is representing the United States this weekend in Davis Cup action against Switzerland in Birmingham, Ala.
When it comes to standing up for one’s beliefs, Roddick put personal prestige and his bank account aside and withdrew from last month’s Dubai Tennis Championship in support of Israeli women’s player Shahar Peer, who was denied entry for the WTA’s event in Dubai a week earlier. Officials said they feared fan anger over Israel’s recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The women’s tournament was fined $300,000, but in Dubai, that’s pocket change.
Most of the top women’s players, including eventual tournament winner Venus Williams, were already in Dubai and chose to go ahead and play the event. Some cited sponsorship obligations. Others already had accepted appearance fees.
Roddick took a stand despite being the defending Dubai champion.
"I really didn’t agree with what went on over there," Roddick told the Jerusalem Post. "I don’t know if it’s the best thing to mix politics and sports, and that was probably a big part of it. There were a lot of factors why I should probably go, and obviously having played well there doesn’t make it any easier. I just don’t feel like there’s a need for that in a sporting event. I don’t think you make political statements through sports."
Another tennis figure who recognized the significance of the moment was Billie Jean King, who has been standing up to social injustice for most of her life. At the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week in Madison Square Garden, King was still upset about the situation in Dubai and was adamant the tour she founded will not return next year if the problem recurs.
"Believe me, it will never happen again," King told The Associated Press in New York. "We won’t be there; I can guarantee you that. Our sport has to set an example of freedom and equality."
If more people had taken a stand like King and Roddick, maybe the Davis Cup match between Sweden and Israel would not be taking place this weekend in an empty stadium in Malmo, Sweden.