Russia eyes new venue after US visa woes
MOSCOW: Russia's Fed Cup captain has asked the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to move this week's semi-final against the United States to a neutral country after being unable to accompany his team to a US venue.
"The ITF regulations stipulate that a host country cannot deny entry to any official member of the visiting team," Shamil Tarpishchev said on Tuesday.
"But here we have a precedent where U.S. authorities are simply denying me a visa to be with my team during this very important tie."
Russia take on the United States in Vermont on July 14-15.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Moscow said that Tarpishchev's application was being processed by US authorities in Washington.
"The Americans always like to talk about human rights and democracy but they are the first ones to deny others the same rights," Tarpishchev said.
"US authorities have been targeting me for the past 10 years without any proof of any wrongdoing on my part. Just imagine what would happen if Russia had denied a visa to a US captain, it would have been a huge international scandal.
"We would have been the enemy number one but it seems like they (US) can get away with almost anything," he added.
Tarpishchev, who also serves as president of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said he had thought of pulling out of the tie but decided against a boycott.
"I always think of the players first and I know from past experience that any boycott is an especially a tough thing for them," he said. "Besides if we refuse, we are only going to get a fine and suspension from the Fed Cup.
Agencies
(China Daily 07/12/2007 page24)
