I don’t remember another network canceling coverage over politics. I know that NBC downgraded coverage of the 1980 Olympics after the US withdrew (although they did broadcast highlights and results), but I don’t know if that was political agreement with the policy, or simply because the network was worried about ratings, advertising pullouts, etc. South African teams were excluded from international competitions at various times, but I don’t know if television boycotts were included.

Whatever the personal politics are – I agree with AL that the UAE’s policy is pretty clear when it comes to Israeli passport holders (although Israeli citizens can enter if they are dual citizens and have another passport)and in some ways this is “much to do about the obvious”. This policy was in place before the invasion of Gaza and whether there was an “exception” promised or not, the WTA was asking for this trouble by putting a tournament in Dubai. It seems naive (or was it just wishful thinking?) on the WTA’s part to think that its organization would somehow be above these very real political issues.

The part that really interests me in this story is the fact that a television network is taking such a strong political stance. It opens expectations that they will start taking stances on other things – like you’ve both pointed out – there are many, many issues out there in the world that merit similar action. You guys obviously know your history – has a television network ever made such a statement before?

If Dubai wants to host an international tennis tournament, then the government needs to allow all players to attend. The WTA should not schedule events in countries that exclude players by national origin.

I don’t think players should be excluded from sporting events because of the actions of their governments. Should we exclude Na Li because of China’s Tibet policy, or Russian players because of Putin’s actions against dissenters, or US players because of the war in Iraq? I am old enough to remember the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics, and I didn’t support that either.