Though most Canadians would disagree with me on this, I'd rank tennis as the world's greatest sport -- for players and spectators alike. All the same, I'm happy the Tennis Channel -- a U. S.-based digital cable service -- won't be carrying this week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Broadcasting the tournament would've made the channel complicit in an act of bigotry perpetrated by the host nation, the United Arab Emirates.

Those who follow the intersection of sports and Middle Eastern politics can probably guess what this is about. One of the female players admitted to compete in this week's US$2-million tournament was Shahar Peer, a steady Israeli baseliner with a No. 48 ranking. Peer was supposed to play her first round match on Thursday. However, the UAE declined to provide Peer with a visa.

No reason was given. But the UAE's motivation--hinted at in a tournament press release declaring that Israel's operation in Gaza had "antagonized" fans -- is obvious: Peer has been blacklisted from a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event because she happens to hail from the Jewish state. (There is also fear that Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram also will be denied a visa.)

Ken Solomon, the Tennis Channel's chairman and chief executive, decided he couldn't have any part in such an event --and canceled his network's pre-scheduled broadcast of the tournament. "Tennis in many ways has been at the forefront of sport, with people breaking down barriers like Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King," Solomon told The New York Times, which broke the story. "It's harder for the Tennis Channel to turn the other cheek."

As for the WTA, its chairman has responded by threatening to remove the event from the tour in 2010. But why wait till next year? The WTA should have delivered an ultimatum: Either Peer plays, or the plug gets pulled now.

Speaking of which, how do the folks at Sony Ericsson and Barclays feel about the fact that their corporate brands are now officially attached to a bigoted sports event? When I phoned a media representative at Barclays and asked her, I got this generic statement: "Barclays has a commercial agreement with Dubai Duty Free as the title sponsors for the tennis championships. Our agreement does not allow us to interfere with any actions or decisions that have to do with the tournament itself, or the players or the regulations of the host country."

Really? I wonder: Would I get this sort of boilerplate feed back if the company's name were attached to an event that targeted, say, black tennis players? Or gay tennis players? In those cases, one assumes, the "Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships" would very quickly become the "Dubai Tennis Championships." But in the case of bigotry against the Jewish state, somehow the bank's name stays on the title.

Readers can tell the companies how they feel about this state of affairs directly-- by e-mailing press. global@SonyEricsson.comor, for Barclays, by phoning 44 (0)20 71164755. Readers might also congratulate the Tennis Channel for its principled decision, at media@thetennischannel.com.It's good to see that someone in the industry has the guts to make a proper line call when it comes to bigotry.

jkay@nationalpost.com

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