Jaziri cleared of wrongdoing in Israeli pullout row

Tunisian tennis player Malek Jaziri has been cleared of any wrongdoing after being ordered by his federation not to take part in a match against an Israeli opponent. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which governs the men's game, said that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will now rule over whether the Tunisian tennis federation should be punished. "The investigation by the ATP into the withdrawal of Malek Jaziri has been completed," said the ATP in a statement. "We have found no wrongdoing on the part of the player and all the information we have collected will be passed on to the ITF." The controversy will be discussed by the ITF board of directors at a meeting in Cagliari on October 31 on the sidelines of Fed Cup final week. Jaziri had been due to play Israel's Amir Weintraub in a second-tier Challenger tournament in Tashkent last week. He withdrew, citing a knee injury, but the player's brother Amir, said he was under orders from the Tunisian Tennis Federation, themselves under pressure from the Tunisian Ministry for Youth and Sports, not to play against an Israeli opponent. Ironically, Jaziri and Weintraub are members of the same tennis club at Sarcelles, north of Paris. Source: AFP