413 sportspeople, activists, academics and writers signed a letter directed to Tennis Canada asking for the cancelation of the Davis Cup tie against Israel, to be played in Halifax, Canada, on September 12-13. The tie is part of the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers. However, in the letter they ask for the Canadian tennis officials to "stand on the right side of history" and refuse to host the tennis matches against the tennis players, in opposition to the genocide on Gaza.
In the letter, they say that the Canadian government has sanctioned Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Defence Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, while asking for Canada to explicitally recognise that Israel is causing a genocide. Among the signers, there's Olympic gold medallist Mohammed Ahmed, three UN Special Rapporteurs and two Palestinian women's national football players.
However, Tennis Canada said that the match will go ahead as planned, acknowledging "the ongoing and deeply complex situation in the Middle East", but putting the focus on "ensuring a safe, fair, and professional competition for all athletes, staff, volunteers and spectators" (via National Post).
Meanwhile the International Tennis Federation, ITF, organizers of the Davis Cup, said that they would not bar Israel from competting, as it also hasn't been suspended by the Internationa Olympic Committee. "We recognize this is a highly complex situation that goes far beyond sport. However, Israel has not been excluded from international sporting events and it has not been suspended by the International Olympic Committee", they said.