ATP cancelled tennis tournament in Israel due to Gaza conflict

The tennis tournament in Tel Aviv on 15 September after 18 yearshas been canceled by the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, announced on Tuesday the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP), which regulates the world circuit.

“We regret to announce that the tournament ATP Tour in Tel Aviv, Israel, will not take place this year. Unfortunately, we feel that we can not keep the competition as expected given the situation in the region,” said Chris Kermode, the president of the ATP.

The tournament, which was to replace the St. Petersburg (Russia) on the calendar, would have been the first ATP tournament held in Israel since 1996. “Ensuring the safety of players, spectators and everyone involved in organizing the event is our number one priority. But mostly we want a quick return of peace in the region, and we hope to return next year, ” Kermode said.

“We regret the decision of the ATP,” said Asaf Tochmeir, President of the Israel Tennis Association (ITA), in a statement posted on the website of the ATP. “We, the ITA, have done everything necessary to ensure the success of this event in Israel. We solved all the problems of financing and organization. ” The war between Israel and Hamas has so far left the death of 1,850 Palestinians and 64 Israeli soldiers since last July 8.

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Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on Aug 6 2014. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.