Snooker Shame

The International Billiards and Snooker Federation became the most recent in a disturbing trend of international sporting bodies biased against the State of Israel. FIFA, the world's governing football (or "soccer") association has long been biased against Israel. Israel is forced to play outside of their geographical region because FIFA succumbs to pressure from the Arab states, and Israel is often forced to play its home games outside the country for the same reasons. The same has been true with FIBA, FIFA'a basketball equivalent.

As reported in the Jerusalem Post, the Snooker Federation has informed Israeli champion Roei Fernandez that he is not invited to play alongside the other national champions at the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Annan, Jordan. Officially, the Snooker Federation said it could not guarantee the safety of the Israeli athlete, stating, "I personally believe that due to the local precarious situation and the present serious unrest that still exists between your country and Lebanon, the country of Jordan is certainly not the right place to guarantee the security of your players." Of course Jordan and Israel have been officially at peace for a decade and have enjoyed peaceful relations since the 1970s.

No other athlete, form any other country, was similarly blackballed. It is unclear whether a Lebanese Snooker player was invited to play or not. What is clear is that the Snooker Federation's decision reeks of politics and anti-Israel bias. Shame on you Snooker. Shame on you.