I give tennis star Andy Roddick massive kudos on his recent decision to drop out of a tournament in Dubai in protest of the United Arab Emirates’ refusal to issue a visa to Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer. He says, “I don’t know if it’s the best thing to mix politics and sports, and that was probably a big part of it.” The UAE is being fined by the World Tennis Association, which is taking action to ensure that discrimination like this won’t be allowed in the future.
Roddick is the defending champion in that Dubai tournament, and he showed guts by publicly dropping out. It was absolutely the right move, as hatred and racism should have no place in the “pure” world of sports.
Wellsy's World 
niclake13
February 25, 2009
I second the kudos. Normally people don’t like athletes making political stands in fear of alienating fans, but this was a smart and very positive decision made by a big name in a sport. Well done, Andy.
-Nic
http://wordstoplayby.wordpress.com
renaissanceguy
February 25, 2009
What courage! That’s the kind of integrity that we need in our country. May he inspire other people to stand up for what is right!
Us Tennis Parents
May 4, 2009
“hatred and racism should have no place in the “pure” world of sports”. Discrimination starts with raising our children in a way that they understand it is just wrong. Tennis is a international sport and we need to accept the fact that there are players from different ethnic backgrounds. What would you say, if we discriminate our own youngsters by setting rules that kids are not allowed to speak in their native language. We are enforcing juniors in the US with a “English only policy” and if they use a different language we penalize them. So for me racism and discrimination starts right at our own doorsteps. Please read further at: http://ustennisparents.wordpress.com/