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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Good for the International Tennis Federation: ITF fines Indonesia for canceling July tennis match in Israel

The International Tennis Federation has fined Indonesia $31,600 and banned it from next year's tournament for canceling its July Fed Cup match against Israel in Ramat Hasharon.

The Indonesian Tennis Association is expected to appeal against the ruling before the December 20 deadline, Ferry Raturandang, secretary general of the ITA said Thursday.

The Muslim nation, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, had asked that the venue of its World Group II playoff match be moved to another country.

Raturandang said the decision was made over security concerns, and not politically motivated, as alleged by the ITF. But Indonesian foreign ministry officials said that the government had instructed its national team to pull out of the July 15-16 Fed Cup match in protest over Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, after initially consenting for the team to travel to Israel.

Raturandang said Indonesia was told it must pay $5,000 for pulling out of the match; $6,600 to compensate the ITF's spending on preparations for the Israel Fed Cup, and US$20,000 to host Israel.

Indonesia was in the World Group II playoffs this year, but the sanction relegates the country to Group II of the Asia/Oceanic Zone in 2008, he said.

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