Dubai gave another Israeli, Andy Ram, a visa to play in last week’s men’s open after world tennis officials threatened to strip it of the right to hold the competition next year.
Now the emirate is counting on the March 5-7 rugby championship to put the Peer controversy behind it, said J.E. Peterson, an expert on the Arab Gulf states affiliated to the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. “They’re hoping that in the long- term, the Peer affair won’t have much impact,” he said.
It may take more than a diplomatic flip-flop and one successful sporting event to reverse the damage to Dubai’s image. The emirate seeks to portray itself as a playground for some of the world’s premier sporting events to enhance its status as a regional business hub.
“I don’t think that the full effect is known yet,” said WTA Chairman Larry Scott in a telephone interview from St. Petersburg, Florida. “The decision not to allow Peer in put a lot of terrific investments and efforts at risk.”
Scott said various businesses and cultural and scientific organizations, which he declined to identify, had expressed concern to him at Peer’s treatment.
Showcase Dubai
Asked about the fallout over the Peer decision, Salah Tahlak, director of the tennis tournament, which is staged by government-owned Dubai Duty Free, said he was confident the tournament and other events, will grow and “showcase Dubai as a first-class sports and leisure destination.”
The rugby tournament is being held in the Gulf State for the first time in its 16-year history and will be broadcast live to a global audience of 400 million in 200 countries. Continue reading
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