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Watkin said that for them, the series of circumstances that made it impossible to hold the tournament in Spain constituted an event of force majeure. An Israeli company informed the ATP as early as the beginning of May that the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities of the Spanish government during the war in Israel do not allow Israelis to financially support and sponsor sports competitions in the country. Let’s recall that Michael Mirilshvili brought the ATP event to Israel for the first time in 2022 after many years without international-level tennis tournaments in Israel. The world’s top tennis players, led by Serbian Novak Djokovic, took part in the tournament. Also in November 2023, the event was scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv, but it was canceled due to the war.
In April, when the news broke that Watergeon would sponsor a tournament in Chichon, the Spanish media launched a campaign against Israel’s participation: “A supplier to the IDF will sponsor an international tournament in Chichon,” wrote the popular newspaper El Diario. Politicians and journalists on the left side of the country’s political map expressed outrage at Israel’s participation in the tournament while committing war crimes, claiming that Watergeon donated advanced air-to-drinking water equipment to several countries. The hospital in Gaza in 2020 did not convince the opponents.
As of today, Watergene is negotiating with the ATP to find an alternative location for the tournament in order to host the International Championship in 2024 under the sponsorship of an Israeli company and with the participation of Israeli tennis players. The company said. Michael Mirilshvili would not agree to spend his money on hosting the tournament in a country hostile to Israel, but given the security situation, the event is expected to return to Israel in 2025.
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