[Image from internationalpropertyinvestment.com - see below]Shahar Peer, 21, is an Israeli tennis player, with a world ranking of 48.
Peer was supposed to have played 15th seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.
The United Arab Emirates refused to provide Peer with a Dubai visa.
World Tennis officials expressed disappointment and many top tennis players from around the world expressed frustration and anger at the decision.
The UAE has not commented, but some feel it has to do with the Israeli/Gaza conflict. You think? Dubai has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Could that have to do with the fact that Dubai, like most Arab countries, believes Israel has no right to exist and should driven into the sea?
According to Larry Scott, chief executive for the World Tennis Association, the WTA will "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament."
That's nice. Why the hell didn't they cancel it?
But there's some good news, too. This from Americablog:
Many expatriates living high on the hog in Dubai have been caught in the worldwide financial maelstrom. They have acquired "crippling debts," and "are abandoning their cars at the airport and fleeing home rather than risk jail for defaulting on loans.
"Police have found more than 3,000 cars outside Dubai's international airport in recent months. Most of the cars -- four-wheel drives, saloons and 'a few' Mercedes - had keys left in the ignition."
One Western diplomat said, "Dubai is emptying out."
Heh. Heh.
An interesting related article is here.
