Tel AVIV, Reuter: Israeli tennis officials on Thursday rejected a second plea from India for next month’s Davis Cup world group tie between the two countries to be moved from Tel Aviv to a neutral venue,
India said on Wednesday it would not play the relegation playoff in Israel in protest at “the Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians”
A cable from the All India Tennis Association Secretary General, P.L. Reddy. To Israeli officials asked for the fixture to be moved out of Israel.
The message was the first direct contact between India, a strong supporter of the Palestinians. And Israel in more than six weeks of negotiations ‘over the scheduled April 79 match.
All previous contact has been via the London based International Tennis Federation (ITF) which has also said the tie must go ahead as scheduled.
The Israel Tennis Association (ITA), which last month turned down a similar Indian request, would not consider switching to a neutral venue under any circumstances, Chairman David Harnik said.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 1, 1988
