{"id":132285,"date":"2025-09-09T22:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/132285\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T22:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:36:10","slug":"davis-cup-tie-between-canada-and-israel-closed-to-halifax-fans-over-escalating-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/132285\/","title":{"rendered":"Davis Cup tie between Canada and Israel closed to Halifax fans over \u2018escalating\u2019 safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Davis Cup<\/a> World Group I tie between Canada and Israel will be played in a closed venue in Halifax \u2014 without fans in attendance \u2014 because of \u201cescalating safety concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tennis Canada said Tuesday that the decision, which was made in consultation with the International Tennis Federation, was \u201cnot taken lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIntelligence received from local authorities and national security agencies, combined with disruptions witnessed at other recent events both in Canada and internationally, indicated a risk of significant disruption to this event,\u201d Tennis Canada wrote in a Tuesday release.<\/p>\n

The tie is set to take place Friday and Saturday at Scotiabank Centre in downtown Halifax, and will determine which of the two nations will advance to compete in next year\u2019s Davis Cup Qualifiers. Team Canada will be led by captain Frank Dancevic.<\/p>\n

The organizers have refused to cancel the event despite calls to do so.<\/p>\n

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An open letter signed by more than 400 people, including former Olympian Moh Ahmed<\/a>, demanded the cancellation in light of international scrutiny over Israel\u2019s military operations in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The signatories note that Canada has already sanctioned senior Israeli cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, and argue it would be \u201cunconscionable\u201d to proceed with the competition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTennis Canada acknowledges the ongoing and deeply complex situation in the Middle East,\u201d Tennis Canada said in a statement last month, adding that its role is to \u201cpromote the sport and provide opportunities for players and fans while ensuring the Halifax tie is contested in a safe and professional environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, Tennis Canada CEO Gavin Ziv said playing behind closed doors is the only way to \u201csafeguard those involved and preserve the event itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this outcome is very disappointing, it allows the tie to proceed in Halifax and ensures that our athletes can continue to compete at the highest international level,\u201d Ziv said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Halifax Regional Police did not say whether threats were directed at the Israeli team, but said officers will be present at the event to support public safety.<\/p>\n

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said they were disappointed thousands of fans were being silenced by the threats.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTennis Canada\u2019s decision was made to protect Canadians in the face of serious threats. It is unacceptable that hate, harassment, and intimidation have made it unsafe to support our athletes in our own country,\u201d the CIJA said in a release.<\/p>\n

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Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) confirmed it will no longer be providing $50,000 in funding for the event, now that spectators are prohibited.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The) municipality is not providing its funding, as the event no longer delivers the tourism, economic and other benefits that would have been expected had it proceeded as originally planned,\u201d HRM spokesperson Ryan Nearing wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

The decision to grant the funding, which followed a recommendation from Halifax\u2019s special events advisory committee, was mired in controversy last month. Protests were held outside City Hall and inside council chambers.<\/p>\n

Mayor Andy Fillmore called the decision to exclude spectators \u201cunfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure everyone who booked a hotel room, who booked a flight, or restaurant reservations \u2014 we want to invite them to still cheer on Team Canada from their hotel room or wherever they might be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scotiabank Centre said Tuesday that ticket holders for the event will receive full refunds within 30 days.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAdvocates call for cancellation of Canada-Israel tennis match\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u2014 with files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Davis Cup World Group I tie between Canada and Israel will be played in a closed venue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,7636,82],"class_list":["post-132285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-davis-cup","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}