I originally wrote this article for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in February 2009: (I wrote it in English, they translated to a Hebrew version which can be found here).
Haaretz:
The Israeli Davis Cup team will visit Sweden to play tennis in the Baltic Hall in Malmö at March 6-8. Unfortunately the actual game has been trapped in the shadow of politics. The Swedish public will miss the chance to see the exiting game live since it will be played without audience.
As in most parts of the world the conflict in Gaza was widely discussed in Sweden. Some politicians who leaned at the pro Palestinian side even urged for a boycott of Israel. At the same time the security situation in the Baltic Hall was questioned. Last week the political majority in Malmö decided that the game will be played without audience. But soon people started to doubt that it was only the security aspect that was behind the decision. The City commissionaire (similar to a mayor) in Malmö, Ilmar Reepelau, has said he would have preferred if the game was not played at all. Carlos Gonzáles Ramos, who is the deputy chairman in the city committee that took the decision, says that he sees the empty stands as a protest against what he believes was an Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The decision has resulted in a lot of criticism. Most sport chroniclers are very critical against the tendency to mix sport and politics. Especially since there were local politicians, who have no authorization in foreign policy, that made the decision. The actual idea of a boycott of Israel has not been discussed much since it is not a topic on the international agenda. The issue seems to divide left from right since the centre-right parties in Malmö want to let people see the game while the Social Democrats, the Left party and the Greens who form a political majority in the city are behind the decision.
Most people in the public debate seem to question the decision to play without audience. It is actually difficult to find newspapers, major blogs, politicians (outside of Malmö) etc who defend it. Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), one of the biggest newspapers in Sweden, writes for example in this Tuesday’s editorial that the Malmö politicians are “fishing voters in dark waters”. Many inhabitants in the city have their origin in the Middle East as refuges from the Palestinian territories or other Arabian countries. Not all of them of course, but some, support Hamas and similar organizations. SvD also question why Israel and not countries like China, Russia, Belarus etc should be boycotted.
At the end of last week the capital Stockholm offered to take over the game, an offer the Tennis Federation happily endorsed. During last weekend they worked hard to make it possible but the cities of Stockholm and Malmö could not agree on the terms of a move on such short time notice. Unless the Malmö politicians change their minds, the game will be played there without audience.
Even though it is easy to forget, after all political disputes, the main thing is the sport. The discussion about the actual match will probably increase as it approaches. The former Swedish tennis wonder has vanished during the last decade and we currently only have one player, Robin Söderling, on the top hundred list. Unfortunately he is injured and misses the game. So does another good player, Joachim Johansson. In Sweden, the home team is still considered to have a decent chance to win, at least if the third injured player Thomas Johansson can play. The Israeli team is rather unknown here. Most people have never heard about Dudi Sela and his impressive performance (at least up to the semi final) in Memphis. But the injuries are considered a major problem and now the host has voluntarily skipped the advantage of a supporting home crowd.
Tommie Ullman
