Hiddush advocates for religious freedom in the Davis Cup

Israeli Tennis Association agreed to compensate the Belgian Tennis Association more than $13,000 to avoid playing on Yom Kippur. Rabbi Uri Regev: The scheduling must respect freedom of religious expression.

18/08/2013 16:39

Tags: Freedom of Religion ·  International Tennis Federation ·  Israeli Tennis Association ·  Yom Kippur ·  Uri Regev

Tennis Team

In response to the recent controversy over the Belgium-Israel Davis Cup match scheduled to take place on Yom Kippur, Hiddush-Freedom of Religion for Israel called on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to respect the Israeli Tennis Association's right to freedom of religious expression. The Israeli team had agreed to compensate the Belgian Tennis Association more than $13,000 for the inconvenience of changing the date so the teams would not play on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush, protested this settlement, saying: "The notion that the Israeli Tennis Association needs to compensate the Belgian Tennis Association in order to respect the holiest day in the Jewish calendar is incredibly disrespectful to the team, their faith, and tradition. This "solution" blatantly disregards the cherished value and universal right of religious freedom, as protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

While recalling the American Jewish baseball legends Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, who refused to play during the World Series in 1965 and 1934 respectively, Regev remarked, "It is inconceivable to imagine that the Belgian Tennis Association would have to compensate their opponents in order to move a match from Christmas or any other principal religious holiday.

"This international competition should be a badge of honor for multicultural participation in sporting events, but unfortunately the irresponsible handling of the scheduling conflict and consequent settlement has tarnished the Federation's reputation in the eyes of advocates for freedom of religion and conscience."

This is in great part to the reality that in Europe one would never consider scheduling a match on Christmas. Can we not expect the same treatment for all of the world's major religions?"

He stressed that, "This international competition should be a badge of honor for multicultural participation in sporting events, but unfortunately the irresponsible handling of the scheduling conflict and consequent settlement has tarnished the Federation's reputation in the eyes of advocates for freedom of religion and conscience."

The International Tennis Federation immediately responded to Rabbi Regev's letter and stood by the agreement. The Spokesperson of the International Tennis Federation said, "The ITF and the Belgian Tennis Federation have worked hard with the Israel Tennis Association to ensure that their team does not have to play on Yom Kippur. As part of the discussions, the ITA has agreed to compensate the Belgian Tennis Federation for any additional costs that may be incurred as a result of changing the schedule and days of play for their forthcoming Davis Cup play-off tie…Unfortunately the tennis calendar runs non-stop from January through November with no adjustments for any religious or national holidays."

Upon receiving the letter in response, Rabbi Regev emphasized the need to internationally respect religious freedom and hoped that the Federation would change their policy in the future.