Dubai: The familiar face of Tunisian chair umpire Adel Aref will not be seen during this week's men's competition at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
Aref, the only chair umpire holding a gold badge from the Arab, Asian and African region, has been a regular at the two-week Dubai tournament over the years.
This week, he was one of the six designated chair umpires by the women's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to officiate during the first week.
Roped in
However, he has not been picked up by the officials for the men's ATP event that get under way this week.
In fact, the Tunisian has been roped in by local organisers as one of four assistant chief of umpires and evaluators.
"I didn't know his exclusion was an issue. The ATP has designated two chair umpires [Mohammad Lahyani from Sweden and Mohammad Al Jennati of Morocco - both silver badge holders] for the ATP tournament," stated Ed Hardisty, the ATP Supervisor. "But I will check with my colleagues and get back to you within the next couple of days," Hardisty promised.
