The Baltimore Jewish Council has received a letter of apology from Rumanian tennis star Ilie Nastase for anti-Semitic remarks he made during the Baltimore International Indoor Tennis Championship in Catonsville, Md., last January.
The Council has also been notified by Forrest A. Hainline, Jr., chairman of the grievance committee of the United States Tennis Association, that the committee considers the apology “satisfactory and accordingly any disciplinary proceedings contemplated by us have been discontinued.”
The Jewish group asked the USTA to take “disciplinary action” against Nastase after the Rumanian player was accused of saying “there are too many Jews here” when he became upset by the strong vocal support from the audience for his opponent, Harold Solomon, of Silver Spring, Md., a Jew. Nastase at the time reportedly said, he was surprised at the complaint since he made it “to myself, no one else,” In his letter to Mark Coplin, president of the Baltimore Jewish Council, Nastase said:
“It was certainly not my intention to offend Mr. Solomon, whom I consider a good personal friend, nor to affront any other person viewing that match. Because negative comments based on differences in nationality or ethnicity are inimical to my own beliefs, I wish to apologize for any unfortunate impression which I may have unintentionally created during what was a hard-fought tennis match with Mr. Solomon. I particularly wish to apologize to any Jewish citizens of Baltimore who may have had occasion to view that match and may have felt insulted as a result.”
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