The Baltimore Jewish Council has accused Ilie Nastase; the Rumanian tennis star, of an anti-Semitic remark during a tennis match here last week and asked the United States Tennis Association to take “appropriate disciplinary action” against the athlete.
Nastase was accused of saying “there are too many Jews here” when he become upset, during a game in the international indoor tennis championship in Catonsville, Md., by the strong vocal support from the audience for his opponent, Harold Solomon of Silver Spring, a Jew.
Mark D. Coplin, president of the Council, said the “anti-Semitic remarks and actions” at the contest were repugnant to all Americans. Coplin said the Council had sent a letter to the tennis association asking for an investigation and disciplinary action. The Council said, in the letter, that Nastase took part in the tourney, sponsored by the Junior League of Baltimore, “as a guest of the Baltimore community and under the auspices of the United States Tennis Association.”
Nastase reportedly said he was “surprised” by the Council’s complaint. He did not deny he had made the comment, but said he had made it “to myself, no one else.”
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