Govt to decide Israeli's participation in tourney

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)