B’nai B’rith International (BBI) is deeply troubled that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) chose to deny a visa to Israeli tennis player Shachar Peer for a Women’s Tennis Association tournament. The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships is a $2 million contest that includes all but one of the top-10 players on the women’s circuit.

The decision is all the more troubling because Dubai has, until now, been open to commercial and sporting exchanges. This would seem to represent a highly regrettable reversal of this open attitude.

One-to-one and nation-to-nation, sports provides an incredible opportunity for cross-cultural understanding. Free of politics, sporting competition transcends nationality and race.

The Tennis Channel, which was slated to cover the event, has pulled its coverage. “This is an easy decision to come by, based on what is right and wrong,” Tennis Channel chairman and CEO Ken Solomon said in an interview with The New York Times. “Sports are about merit, absent of background, class, race, creed, color or religion. They are simply about talent. This is a classic case, not about what country did what to another country.”

BBI urges the Women’s Tennis Association to seriously re-consider Dubai’s hosting the tournament next year.