An Israeli official has expressed his “delight” at the participation of Israeli tennis player Dudi Sela at the Qatar Open earlier this week.
"I am happy to see the Israeli players participating in various tournaments for all the games in the Middle East," the Israeli official said on his Twitter account.
كم أكون سعيدا وأنا أرى اللاعبين الإسرائيليين وهم يشاركون في مختلف البطولات لجميع الالعاب بالشرق الأوسط. والآن يشارك نجم التنس الإسرائيلي "دودي سيلا" في بطولة #قطر المفتوحة للتنس والمقامة حالياً في الدوحة، حظ سعيد لـ"سيلا" واي لاعب إسرائيلي يخوض المباريات في اي دولة بالمنطقة pic.twitter.com/5OP1o9okVi
— يوناتان جونين Yonatan Gonen (@GonenYonatan) January 4, 2018
Sela’s first-ever visit to Qatar didn’t last long though, with Israel’s No. 1 tennis player being knocked out in the first round on Monday.
Israeli players were allowed to participate in Qatar after media outlets in Doha earlier reported incorrect news that Saudi Arabia was providing visas for Israeli players to participate in the World Chess Championship last week.
Saudi Arabia had refused to grant Israeli players visas to participate in the World Chess Championships hosted by the kingdom a few weeks ago.
