The United States Committee Sports For Israel, Inc. has protested to the Indian Government over its refusal to grant visas to the Israeli team scheduled to participate in the international table tennis championship tournament to be held in Calcutta Feb. 6-16. In a letter to the Ambassador of India in Washington, Nat Holman, president of the Committee, pointed out that the constitution of the International Table Tennis Federation stipulates that all Federation members, regardless of nationality, be allowed to participate in the tournaments.
“It seems to us that once the government of India agrees to host the forthcoming championships, it should abide by the rules and regulations set forth in the constitution of the ITTF,” Holman wrote. “We believe,” his letter said. “that international sportsmanship has suffered another serious blow as a result of this intrusion of political considerations. We trust you will agree with us that politics must be kept separate from sports if we are to preserve the spirit of fair play without which international sports competition would become a hollow mockery,” Holman wrote.
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