If you listen closely, you can almost hear the dragging of their collective knuckles inside the halls of power in the UAE.
The United Arab Emirates has refused to grant a visa to a female Israeli tennis player, preventing her from competing in the Sony Ericsson World Tennis Association Tour in Dubai, the WTA said in a statement Sunday.
Shahar Peer would have been the first Israeli athlete to participate in a professional sporting event in the UAE, CNN Sports Correspondent Pedro Pinto said.
The governing body of women's tennis said it was "deeply disappointed" that Peer was being denied entry to the country hosting the tournament, but it did not cancel the competition.
The move runs counter to WTA policy, which says no player should be barred from competing in a tournament for which she has qualified.
Dubai could lose its WTA membership next year over the ban on Shahar, according to the governing body's rules.
