Syrian tennis player banned by federation for playing Israeli opponent in tournament

A Syrian tennis player named Kareem Al Aliaf was banned by his Federation for playing an Israeli player at an ITF tournament in the USA.

Al Aliaf represents Syria internationally despite being born in the US however his decision to play a match against an Israeli opponent got him kicked out of the Federation. He defeated his opponent Nitzan Ricklis 6-1 6-1 but it didn't sit well with his Federation.

The story was pointed out by tennis reporter Reem Abulleil on social media network Twitter. She wroter:

"Syrian tennis player @KareemAllaf played against and defeated Israeli player Nitzan Ricklis last week in a $15k in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As a response, the Syrian Tennis Federation has banned him. Hope @ITFTennis does something. This nonsense has got to stop."

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She called on the ITF to intervene in the situation calling it 'nonsense'. One Twitter user responded to the reporter with:

"@ReemAbulleil@KareemAllaf@ITFTennis Israel is currently bombing Syria. Will @ITFTennis and other tennis governing bodies address that as well? Will there be consequences for Israeli players like there are for Russian players?"

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