Israeli authorities say they will demand a change of site for the international table tennis championship tournament scheduled to open in Calcutta Feb. 6 unless the Indian government lifts its ban on the Israeli team. The International Table Tennis Federation has notified Israel by cable that the Indian government is refusing to issue entry visas to the Israeli players.
The cable stressed that Federation had nothing to do with the decision which was taken on a governmental level in New Delhi. It was the second overt anti-Israel move by India in recent days. The first was when the Indian government became the first non-Arab, non-Moslem nation to accord diplomatic status to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
NET RESULT OF BAN
Israeli sports authorities have called on the Federation to take steps to assure Israel’s participation, failing which Israel would insist that the tournament be moved to another country. Israel pointed out that the Indian decision violated the international sports agreement whereby a country is allowed to host an event only if all participants are admitted.
Roy Evans, president of the ITTA said in a telephone interview that he believed the Israelis would still be able to attend the tournament in Calcutta because entry visas are not required of any visitors who do not plan to remain in India longer than 21 days. He said he had informed the Indian officials by cable that the Israelis planned to attend and received no reply.
Israeli sport circles cited several precedents for the last minute shifting of international tournaments away from countries that had discriminated against Israeli participants. They recalled that a lawn tennis tournament scheduled for Djakarta was moved to Hong Kong after the Indonesian authorities refused to grant visas to the Israeli team. Similarly, an attempt to prevent Israel from participating in a wrestling competition in Turkey was reversed through the intervention of the International Federation.
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