The Slovenian Tennis Federation has confirmed that their women’s team have withdrawn from an upcoming Fed Cup tournament in Egypt due to security concerns.
The team was scheduled to play in a four-day tournament at the Gezira Club in Cairo. The low-key tournament will host seven nations from Europe/Africa group II. Slovenia has been in the group since February 2014 after losing 2-0 to Latvia. Their withdrawal was confirmed in an official statement from the Tennis Federation of Slovenia.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia has advised Slovenian citizens against traveling to certain parts of Egypt, particularly to the wider areas of Cairo and Alexandria, where the Fed Cup will take place (from April 13 to 16),” The statement said.
“The players themselves also expressed fear for their own security,” it later added.
Egypt has experienced security problems with Islamic insurgency, especially in the north of the country. In October 2015 a plane crashed after an explosion, killing 217 people. An official investigation found that the incident was caused by a terrorist attack. Terrorist group, Ansar Jerusalem, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The UK foreign Office currently states there is a ‘high’ chance of a terrorist incident in the country.
On March 10th a bomb targeting a police convoy injured three people in Cairo.
This is not the first time that a Fed Cup team has withdrawn over security concerns. In 2001 the USA withdrew from their Fed Cup final against Spain due to security risks in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.
With Slovenia’s withdrawal from the competition, there will be seven nations participating in the event:-
Bosnia/Herzegovina
Egypt
Finland
Lithuania
Denmark
Liechtenstein
Austria
