Govt to decide Israeli's participation in tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Diplomatic protocol once again gave Indonesian sports officials a headache when an Israeli tennis player was listed yesterday among the participants in the Indonesia Satellite Circuit men's championships.

Zainal Abidin, secretary-general of the Indonesian Tennis Association, the organizer of the four-leg circuit, told a press conference that the association has no right to bar the Israeli according to an International Tennis Federation (ITF) rule.

The circuit, scheduled to take place from Oct. 7 to Nov. 3 in Bandung, Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya, is a tournament sanctioned by the ITF. The world tennis body handled the registration of 167 players from 31 countries for the circuit.

Indonesia -- the largest Moslem country in the world -- has no diplomatic ties with Israel. Indonesia has also adopted a policy of barring Indonesians from playing Israelis in any sport.

This policy sparked protests from Israel and a number of countries when Jakarta, playing host to the 38th World Outdoor Archery Championships in October last year, rejected Israel's participation.

The government is to decide whether or not to allow the Israeli tennis player to take part in this year's Indonesia Satellite Circuit.

"It is up to the government," Eddy Katimansah, the tennis association's official in charge of foreign affairs, said yesterday. He added that the association will stick to whatever decision the government eventually makes.

Zainal said he would consult the foreign ministry on this matter.

Eddy, however, said that the organizers should have spotted the problem as early as three weeks ago -- the deadline of the circuit's participation -- and should have tackled it then.

Eddy added that Indonesia could not be punished by the ITF for rejecting the Israeli participant if the organizers had clearly stated the government's rules for obtaining visas, which should include the policy, in the guidebooks for the participants.

On the other hand, even if the organizers failed to do so, Eddy said, there should not be much fuss about this because the Israeli in question can take part in other such circuits around the world. There are 10 circuits in Asia alone and six in the United States, he added.

The Indonesian circuit is sponsored by state-owned company PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia. Each leg has US$25,000 in prize money.

Meanwhile in Surabaya, organizers of the $107,500 Wismilak Open women's tennis championships announced that Taiwan's Wang Shi-ting topped the seeding list in the tournament to be held from Oct. 7 to Oct. 13 at the Embong Sawo tennis courts.

Indonesia's tennis queen Yayuk Basuki will miss the championship again, as she did last year. Tournament director Agus Susanto said that Yayuk has already agreed to play in another tournament which coincides with the Surabaya event. (15/arf)