Of course they will lose! This region is dying to make a name for itself on the world stage.
Why else do you think the Gulf have built indoor ski slopes and ginormous shopping malls and Al Jazeera News and the world's tallest buildings, and brought in the Louvre and Cornell Medical College and the like to set up shop?
They're hungry for recognition, to be known as something more than just a bunch of rich Arabs.
Hosting international sporting events is one major area they've chosen to develop.
If granting a visa to a certain nationality goes against UAE state policy, then they should have bowed out of hosting the tourney, knowing full well that Peer (being a top-ranked player) would apply to attend.
Instead, they chose to play politics, and to do it at the last minute when it would have created huge difficulties for the WTF to cancel the event at that point.
No one is denying that other nations (my own among them) have similarly marred sporting events by dragging politics into them; we're all saying that it sucks when countries do it, and that it's unfair.
You can buy lots of things, but you can't buy a good reputation. That has to be earned and made. And that is a lesson that this part of the world still needs to learn, unfortunately.
Of course they will lose! This region is dying to make a name for itself on the world stage.
Why else do you think the Gulf have built indoor ski slopes and ginormous shopping malls and Al Jazeera News and the world's tallest buildings, and brought in the Louvre and Cornell Medical College and the like to set up shop?
They're hungry for recognition, to be known as something more than just a bunch of rich Arabs.
Hosting international sporting events is one major area they've chosen to develop.
If granting a visa to a certain nationality goes against UAE state policy, then they should have bowed out of hosting the tourney, knowing full well that Peer (being a top-ranked player) would apply to attend.
Instead, they chose to play politics, and to do it at the last minute when it would have created huge difficulties for the WTF to cancel the event at that point.
No one is denying that other nations (my own among them) have similarly marred sporting events by dragging politics into them; we're all saying that it sucks when countries do it, and that it's unfair.
You can buy lots of things, but you can't buy a good reputation. That has to be earned and made. And that is a lesson that this part of the world still needs to learn, unfortunately.