ITF Rules Davis Cup Matches to Be Moved Out of Israel and Ukraine Amid Conflicts
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled Tuesday that two World Group playoff matches as part of the Davis Cup will have to be moved to different venues due to ongoing conflicts in the respective regions.
The Sept. 12-14 contest between Israel and Argentina, set to take place in Tel Aviv, will have to be played in a neutral venue. The Israel Tennis Association had appealed the decision last week, but the ITF rejected the appeal because of the chaos in Gaza.
“The board agreed with the Davis Cup committee that it was the ITF’s duty to ensure the safety of players, officials and spectators, and that there was a lack of certainty as to the security situation in Israel at the date of the tie,” said the federation in a statement.
The playoff match between Belgium and Ukraine, which was set to place in Kiev, will also have to be moved according to the ITF’s decision Tuesday. Scheduled for the same dates as the match between Israel and Argentina, the ITF upheld an appeal by Belgium to move the event out of Ukraine.
“The tie will no longer be played in Ukraine,” the ITF said in the statement. “While the recent political unrest had occurred in Eastern Ukraine, a disturbance in Kiev’s Independence Square as recently as last Thursday indicated that the security situation there was fluid.”
Israel has until Thursday to nominate a neutral venue to play the playoff in. If the ITF approves that location, Israel will be considered the home nation and will decide which type of court surface to play on. Ukraine has five days to pick a venue.
If the ITF rejects a venue nomination, it will decide on a neutral court or be played in Belgium and Argentina.
“It is always a very difficult decision for the ITF to take away choice of ground,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “However, the safety of players, officials and spectators has to take priority and the Board believed that it was not prudent to hold ties in Ukraine or Israel because of political unrest in these countries at the present time and for the foreseeable future.”
