Dubai resident Roger Federer will not be playing in the tournament next week due to a back injury. I take him at his word. But it is a convenient out for the big guy. Fed originally started hanging in Dubai when he was being coached by Tony Roche and was looking for a halfway point to meet between Australia and Europe. Now he loves the place.
I just can’t square the thoughtful, responsible guy with living in Dubai. It’s true he only sees the rare air of the city-state… the spectacular buildings and restaurants and playgrounds. It’s a repressive regime that markets itself as a playground for the super rich. This was always a mirage – a country that “officially” doesn’t approve of gambling, drinking, excess, etc. on religious grounds, actually courts foreigners to partake in all of those activities. And the foreigners came to the country in droves. Now Dubai is being exposed.
Federer fans will undoubtedly accuse me of asking Rog to take a stand on Mideast politics or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I’m not. I’m simply saying that if he spends that much time in the country, he should expect to be asked questions about the place barring his fellow pros from setting foot in the country due to race and religion. Roger’s mother is from South Africa. He has a charity for children in the country. He’s a smart guy. I expect him to comment soon. Let’s hope he condemns the UAE. I trust they won’t throw him in jail for it.
Again, Steve Tignor said it best.
The player with the highest-profile relationship with Dubai is Roger Federer. While the other top men who come to the city to receive their guaranteed paydays next week should not be absolved from speaking out about Ram or Peer, Federer trains in the area, spends the most time there, and has talked about how much he likes the place. This is how he describes Dubai on his website:
Q: You spend a lot of time training in Dubai. What are some of your favourite things to do there?
A: I really like the nice climate in Dubai. It is always sunny, making it the ideal location for holidays as well as practice. I like to go shopping and eating out in the great restaurants and hotels. Dubai is a true melting pot of nationalities, so it’s a very interesting place in terms of the people you meet.
Federer is on the ATP’s player council now, and has spoken out about various issues from drug testing to the schedule (he wants more time to play in the Middle East). Most important, everyone in tennis listens to what he has to say—his early suspicions about former tour chief Etienne de Villiers made it that much tougher for him to earn the trust of other players. Like I said, Federer is not going to solve the problems of the Middle East. But he owes it to all of his fellow players to say something substantive about Dubai and its policies toward those players. If he likes it so much, he should want all of them, whether they’re paid a king’s ransom or not, to have a chance to play there.
Passing Shots 
po-david
February 18, 2009
You mentioned Billy Jean in a earlier column and that is who the ladies must look up to but all tennis players should, “Just ask myself, what would Arthur do?”