CALIGARI, Italy, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- International tennis officials have banned Tunisia from the 2014 Davis Cup because Tunisian officials ordered a player to sit out a match against an Israeli.
The Tunisian Tennis Federation ordered Malek Jaziri to withdraw from a match against Israel's Amir Weintraub at last month's ATP Challenger tournament in Tashkent, the International Tennis Federation said Saturday.
"There is no room for prejudice of any kind in sport or in society," ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said in a written statement Saturday. "The ITF Board decided to send a strong message to the Tunisian Tennis Federation that this kind of action will not be tolerated by any of our members."
The decision by the ITF board was unanimous. Tunisian member Tarak Cherif recused himself from the vote.
