■ Tennis
WTA to return to Israel
Top class professional tennis will return to Israel next year for the first time since 1994 following the announcement of a new WTA Tour event. "We will do all we can to attract the world's best players. My intention is to raise the standard of women's tennis in Israel," tournament sponsor Henri Zimand told reporters on Wednesday. The US$140,000 WTA Tour Tier IV event will be held during the week of Oct. 24 parallel with two other WTA tournaments, a US$585,000 Tier II competition in Linz, Austria, and a US$170,000 Tier III event in Hasselt, Belgium. Israel has three women ranked in the world's top 130, Anna Smashnova (61), Shahar Peer (67) and Tzipora Obziler (123).
■ Soccer
FIFA bans Barbados games
The Barbados Football Association officially halted all local soccer tournaments on Wednesday after the federation received an indefinite ban by FIFA. BFA president Ronald Jones said all soccer activities sanctioned in Barbados will be suspended until the FIFA suspension is lifted. "The executive has decided that as a result of the suspension all football being sanctioned or organized under the auspices of the BFA is temporarily halted pending clarification of some issues by FIFA," Jones said. The decision stalls the local premier league, the cup and several lower-level leagues. Among the first to feel the impact of the FIFA suspension is the under-15 boys' side, which was withdrawn from a Caribbean Football Union tournament in Trinidad in August. FIFA suspended the BFA because of a power struggle between Jones and former general secretary Randy Harris, who challenged Jones' September presidential election victory by contesting it in the local court system.
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