More than a thousand police from seven counties in Sweden have been tapped to heavily secure the upcoming Davis Cup tie between the host country and Israel. The best-of-five matches will take place on March 6-8 at Baltic Hall in Malmo, Sweden.
Hakan Jarborg, the police commissioner, said on Thursday that a “Stop the Match” protest is expected to take place outside the venue. The protest group was established during Israel’s offensive in Gaza last December.
The police chief also added that there may be small groups that could show up and join the protests.
It has been reported that no fans will be allowed to witness the sporting event. Only officials, teams, selected sponsors and journalists are allowed to enter the 4,000-seat hall.
Two weeks ago, the United Arab Emirates officials denied Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer a visa to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships. This caused global criticisms which may have prompted the government to grant visa to Peer’s compatriot Andy Ram to compete for the men’s Dubai tourney.
This serves as the second time for a fan-less Davis Cup match to take place in Sweden. The Sweden-Chile tie in 1975 was held in Bastad without spectators.
As for the upcoming match, Israel will attempt to avenge its defeat from Sweden in the first round of competitions last year. Sweden, a 7-time Davis Cup champ, defeated Israel (3-2) in 2008. The latter was the host country.
