Soaring above the fray with Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson /
The Englishman fancies hot air balloons and space travel.

Sir Richard Branson is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist whose heart and soul are in the right place. He is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which benefits more than 400 companies. He's dabbled in a variety of media, including print, film and television; opened a chain of record stores, and started an airline.

Branson, 66, who was knighted by the Queen in 2000 for "services to entrepreneurship," is a fancier of hot air balloons and space travel. He's an avid fan of Star Trek. There is a highly competitive nature to him, but he doesn't seem to be in-your-face about it. And, when the man with the brilliant mind speaks out, people listen to him.

"My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them ..." Branson wrote in his autobiography.

Sir Richard Branson / He founded the Virgin Group,
which benefits more than 400 companies. 

When Branson hasn't set his sights on breaking world records for travel, he's been focused on humanitarian activities. For instance, in the late 1990s, Branson and musician Peter Gabriel discussed with Nelson Mandela an idea for a small group of leaders working in unison to solve difficult global conflicts. In 2007, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mandela announced the formation of a group called The Elders, which included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan and former director-general of the World Health Organization Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Elders, funded by a group of donors, including Branson and Gabriel, describe themselves as "independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights." With almost 1,000 years of collective experience between them in the group, The Elders have worked on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems such as climate change, HIV/AIDS and poverty.

More recently, in 2014, Branson joined forces with African Wildlife Foundation and partner WildAid for the"Say No" Campaign, which was an initiative designed to bring public awareness to the issues of wildlife poaching and trafficking.

With just two weeks until Election Day in America, Branson has shared access with both major-party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. In a recent article for BusinessInsider.com, Branson expressed a lunch encounter he once shared in Trump's apartment as "bizarre" and revealed a "vindictive streak" he noticed in the Republican Party standard bearer, which he admitted "wouldn't bode well for a president who should be more concerned with global affairs than personal vendettas."

Sir Richard Branson and Donald Trump /
The two business titans fundamentally disagree on
what makes a great entrepreneur.

Branson and Trump, I learned, fundamentally disagree on what makes a great entrepreneur. Branson believes it involves being a good listener, putting others before oneself, being an effective delegator and striving to make a positive difference to the world. "Great entrepreneurs build businesses with purpose at their heart and always treat people with respect. These are not characteristics I see in Mr. Trump – neither in his previous dealings, nor in this campaign."

In a recent blog post, Branson wrote about his meeting with Trump: "I left the lunch feeling disturbed and saddened by what I'd heard. There are a lot of frightening things about this election, not least that policy has been pushed so far down the agenda. "

Branson called Mr. Trump's temperament "irrational, aggressive and he lacks informed ideas on how to grow jobs in America. An entrepreneur president would put that at the heart of his plans and yet his fear-based campaign blames immigrants and open borders."

By contrast, Branson also broke bread with Clinton in which the two discussed a variety of important issues such as women's rights and education reform. He noted that the Democratic Party nominee for president was both a "good listener" and "eloquent speaker."

Branson wrote of Clinton: "As she understands well, the president of the United States needs to understand and be engaged with wider world issues, rather than be consumed by petty personal quarrels."

Earlier this month, in a blog post on Virgin's website, Branson endorsed Clinton over Trump for president. "I would like to see an entrepreneur become president one day," Branson wrote. "I believe entrepreneurial thinking is incredibly valuable in leaders, and there are many entrepreneurs who I would be delighted to see in power – just not this one."

Sir Richard Branson weighs in on the U.S. Presidential race.

While Branson is not an American citizen, nonetheless, he has been a keen follower of the U.S. election because it 'will have major implications on the rest of the world."

Branson gets it.

Indeed, the whole world is watching.

"The U.S. is faced with a monumental decision: whether to vote for Hillary Clinton – a safe pair of hands and a leader of supreme experience and know how. Or to vote for Donald Trump," wrote Branson.

"America was built upon a collective embracing of diversity and openness – not division and close-mindedness. There are too many examples of Mr. Trump's lack of empathy and respect to name. I agree with many on both sides of America's political aisle that he is unfit for office."

Photos: Courtesy of Google Images.

Game, set, match = world peace, if for just 71 minutes

Tunisia's Malek Jaziri / 
Center of attention in a political hot-button issue.

In 2013, Tunisia's Malek Jaziri found himself the center of attention in a political hot-button issue no athlete ever wants to be in. The top Arab tennis player in the world was ordered by his country's governing tennis body, the Tunisia tennis federation, to withdraw from an ATP tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, rather than face a Jew, Israel's Amir Weintraub, who happened to his scheduled opponent.

In response to Jaziri's abrupt withdraw, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) banned Tunisia from Davis Cup competition for an entire year, in 2014.

The basic principle is that sports has nothing to do with politics. However, it should be noted that many Arab countries have for decades observed, to varying degrees, boycotts against Israeli athletes as a matter of protest over the situation of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

"What a lot of people don't understand is that it's a difficult situation for the player no matter what," Reem Abulleil, a Dubai-based tennis journalist for Sport360.com, told the New York Times' Ben Rothenberg during a 2015 tennis podcast No Challenges Remaining. "There's always consequences, whether you like it or not."

Malek Jaziri was the top-seeded player at Istanbul.

Fast forward to this past week in Istanbul, Turkey, where Jaziri was the top-seeded player and Dudi Sela of Israel was the tournament's No. 2 seed in an ATP Challenger Tour tournament, tennis' version of the minor leagues. If the seeds held true – and they did – it would mean an Arab and a Jew would play for the championship of the American Express Istanbul Challenger. Mind you, most tennis fans throughout the world were focused on the semifinal round of the Davis Cup competition.

As the Sunday final approached, despite the fear that the Tunisian tennis authorities may again intervene, the championship match between the 70th-ranked Jaziri and the 74th-ranked Sela went ahead – and without incident. Unlike three years ago, Jaziri's career has been on the upswing this year under the guidance of coach Dejan Petrovic. He's playing better and his visibility on the court has been enhanced by a new clothing endorsement with Hydrogen, an Italian athletic wear company. Earlier this year, the Tunisian achieved a career-best ranking of 53rd. Facing the possibility of further sanctions, perhaps it's safe to assume that the Tunisian tennis federation wised up to the possibility of harsher sanctions by the ITF if it ordered Jaziri off the court. Or, maybe, it has changed its stance on matters of allowing its athletes to compete against all comers without political interference.

Dudi Sela (left), umpire Adel Nour, and Malek Jaziri.

At 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Jaziri and Sela, friends off the court, posed for a pre-match photo with Adel Nour, an Egyptian chair umpire. And, the final was on. At the conclusion of their 71-minute match, won by Jaziri, 1-6, 6-1, 6-0, the Tunisian and the Israeli shook hands at the net with sincerity and without any outward appearance of awkwardness. (I must confess, I watched the match at home in the U.S. on my iPhone 6 using the free ATPWorldTour.com feed that was absent of any commentary.) 

The Center Court crowd applauded both players, and when Jaziri returned to the court, he waved and tapped his heart with his right hand. He seemed very genuine in his emotion and appreciative of the reception he received from the fans in attendance.

Malek Jaziri and Dudi Sela shook hands at the net.

The victory gave Jaziri his third ATP Challenger Tour of the season and sixth of his career. Importantly, he earned 90 ATP points, which boosted his ranking to No. 55, as he heads on to his next tournament in Metz, France, this week. The Istanbul champion's purse of $10,800, although modest, was most welcomed by Jaziri.

As the news spread across the Atlantic, a couple of prominent American tennis journalists expressed their sentiment via Twitter. "Forget Davis Cup," tweeted Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times. "This is the biggest thing happening in tennis today. Jaziri-Sela heading toward a third set." Then, after the match, Rothenberg tweeted again: "Game, set match: World Peace. Jaziri, a Tunisian pressured to withdraw against Israelis before, plays, beats Sela." 

Malek Jaziri posed with the championship trophy.

Also, TennisChannel host and commentator Brett Haber tweeted: "Pleased to see Jaziri play Sela in Istanbul final today. I choose to believe motivation was geopolitical progress & acceptance, not Pts & $."

Jaziri got to compete, the fans who attended witnessed a significant match, and the tournament organizers were not short-changed by an empty final. Most importantly, sport overruled decades of Arab-Israeli political differences. 

A source who has been in touch with Jaziri since his victory Sunday suggested to me that there are different people controlling sporting issues within Tunisia than three years ago, which may explain why Jaziri didn't meet any resistance in playing Sela. According to the source, Jaziri suggested that what happened to him in 2013 will not happen again.

For once, there would be no boycott. Instead, it was the players – not the politicians – who decided the outcome of the match.

Photos: Courtesy of Istanbul Challenger Facebook page, Malek Jaziri Facebook page, ATPWorldTour.com live match stream, and @tenisdunyasi via Twitter.

We A.R.E. Pride: Leveling the playing field

We A.R.E. Pride / If you can play, you can play.

It started with a dialogue between rivals on the basketball court, but off it they are athletes reaching equality.

Now, seniors Mikayla Lyles of the University of California, Berkeley and Toni Kokenis of Stanford University are standing front and center, together, creating a shared space for inclusion and a conversation about acceptance.

After all, there is no rivalry in equality.

Lyles, a co-captain of her Cal team, who's been writing an insightful blog for espnW.com this season about her life as a student-athlete, isn't afraid to speak out about social change. She and Kokenis, who was forced to give up basketball after suffering a pair of concussions during her three seasons at Stanford, have worked together for the past five months on a series of programs which were held last week on their respective campuses to connect their schools in support of LGBTQ inclusion in sports called We A.R.E. Pride, Athletes Reaching Equality. 

The Cal & Stanford Edition events also included video documentaries and photo galleries featuring candid shots of recent and current Cal and Stanford student-athletes.

A rivalry of equals / This candid shot featuring
Layshia Clarendon, Mikayla Lyles, Toni Kokenis and Avigiel Cohen
was included in a photo gallery of Cal and Stanford athletes.

"In particular, we wanted to focus on bringing awareness to the inequality of LGBTQ inclusion in sports, with the hopes that if we could prove that two student-athletes could spearhead an initiative such as this, then we could inspire communities, cultures, and generations to take the progression of any inequality into their own hands," Lyles and Kokenis wrote in a welcoming letter that was handed out to forum attendees at both the Field Club in Memorial Stadium at UC Berkeley and Burnham Pavilion at Stanford last week.

"As we have taken the necessary steps to put our vision into fruition," their letter continued, "we have been humbled enough to realize that in order to progress any inequality, one must understand that the fight is bigger than the self. ... No war was ever won by battles fought alone."

In the spring of 2012, Kokenis helped found Stanford Athletes and Allies Together (StAAT), a student group dedicated to supporting LGBTQ and allied athletes. Through her association with StAAT, Kokenis initiated a dialogue with her university's athletic department, which led to "You Can Play," a video which featured 28 Stanford athletes, coaches and administrators. Last summer, after she saw Lyles' participation in a Br{ache The Silence public service announcement that featured former Cal star Layshia Clarendon, she contacted Lyles. Soon after, the two decided to work together on We A.R.E. Pride.

Mikayla Lyles has been
outspoken about inclusion
and acceptance in athletics:
"No war was ever won by
battles fought alone."

While both have been vocal activists on their own campuses, Lyles was instrumental in the idea of bringing two rivals together. "Every school has a rival, but that doesn't mean you can't unite on the ground level, wanting to fight for something together," Lyles told espnW.com's Michelle Smith. "We want to start the conversation because in the athletic culture, there's been a lot of silence to this point. It's been extremely silent."

According to Kokenis, silence isn't equal to acceptance. "The only way to make sports more accepting is to talk about it. I feel like we have perfect opportunities as student-athletes at some of the top schools in the country. Athletics still has to catch up with the rest of the world," she said in an espnW.com interview.

Together, Lyles, an interdisciplinary studies major who is straight and calls herself "naturally an ally, naturally inclusive," and Kokenis, a human biology and sociology major who came out to her teammates before her basketball career was cut short, said they wanted to show that the "essence of tradition and rivalry can be more than just a symbol of competition; it can serve as a platform for unity and progress."

"This isn't about making athletes come out, it's about fostering an environment where it doesn't matter," said Kokenis. "We need to deal with it, instead of pretending it doesn't exist."

Lyles and Kokenis enlisted the support of an impressive group of educators and activists for last week's panel and audience Q & A discussions. The panelists at the UC Berkeley event, which I attended with my wife and friends, included: moderator Pat Griffin, a national LGBTQ and athletics educator and activist; Wade Davis, a nationally recognized speaker, educator and former NFL player; Helen Carroll, director of the National Center for Lesbian Right's Sports Project, which aims to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender players, coaches and administrators receive fair and equal treatment free of discrimination; and Nevin Caple, co-founder of Br{ache the Silence, which advances LGBTQ inclusion in sports through professional and college campus integration initiatives and public awareness campaigns.

Griffin asked the panelists questions about LGBTQ inclusion in sports and other issues touched on racism, religion, sexism and homophobia.

A courage of their convictions / Mikayla Lyles (L) and Toni Kokenis
have worked together to connect their respective schools,
Cal and Stanford, in support of LGBTQ inclusion in sports.

Both Lyles and Kokenis were asked about their reasons for their project, and both were frank and eloquent in speaking out about inclusion. According to Lyles, college athletes have a unique voice that needs and should be spoken louder. "Acceptance can be achieved only through understanding, and understanding can be achieved only when athletes speak up to share their opinions on this important social issue," she said. Adds Kokenis: "Acceptance is acceptance. We can leave a legacy of inclusion."

I'm very proud of the leadership that Mikayla and Toni have shown in speaking out about social change -- inclusion and reaching equality -- in athletics. It was a pleasure to be in the UC Berkeley audience of about 200, which included Lyles' basketball teammates and coaches; many male and female Cal student-athletes, alums, and several UC professors and administrators. Hearing Mikayla and Toni speak out and contribute to a lively discussion of these important issues meant a lot and it showed me not only their leadership qualities, but also a courage of their convictions.

In an e-mail sent to event participants last week, Lyles wrote that the panel members were impressed with the Cal and Stanford communities, "and we have all been inspired to continue using student-athletes and rivals as a platform to really bring people together all over the country. ... It is one of my greatest college and life memories that I will never forget.

"The aura you get in a room when you allow people to be completely themselves makes for an experience of human connections; that is incomparable."

Photographs of Mikayla Lyles and Toni Kokenis by Michael Dickens, 2014. Creative images courtesy of We A.R.E. Portrait Gallery (originals by Mollie McClure of McClure Images).

On Tunisian tennis: A season on the brink?

Malek Jaziri / The No. 1-rated Arab tennis player in the world.

At a glance, the order of play for last Friday's quarterfinal-round of the ATP Challenger event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which included three of the top four remaining seeds, seemed ordinary enough.

Except that it wasn't.

At 10 a.m. on Court No. 3, the order of play showed a scheduled match between two unseeded players, one an Arab, the other an Israeli. However, before play began in this lower-tier tennis tournament -- the minor leagues of professional men's tennis, if you will -- Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, ranked 169th in the world at the time but currently the top-rated Arab player, withdrew from his match against Amir Weintraub, an Israeli, who advanced on the walkover to the semifinals.

More often than not, a walkover is the result of one player being too injured to be able to play. Only, this time, Jaziri's inability to play was because of political interference and not because of a knee injury, diplomatic and convenient as it might seem -- regardless of what the tournament's website indicated as the official reason.

Instead, in a move that arguably shocked the tennis world and garnered the attention of both USA Today and Sports Illustrated here in the U.S. as well as various international media abroad, Tunisia's tennis federation ordered its best player off the court, forbidding him from playing. Simply because his opponent-to-be was an Israeli.

In an e-mail provided by Jaziri's brother and manager, Amir, to the Tunisian state news agency on Friday, the Tunisian tennis federation on Thursday stated: "Following a meeting this afternoon with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, I have the immense regret to inform you that you are ordered not to play against the Israeli player."

A sports ministry spokesman, Sadok Touati, confirmed for the Associated Press that the federation sent the e-mail on Thursday after it consulted the ministry.

"The ministry does not interfere in the affairs of the sports federations," said Touati. Meanwhile, the federation president was unavailable for comment.

Although Jaziri, 29, is ranked well below the top players in his sport  -- a little over a year ago he was 100 places higher (69th) before injuries and a string of losses against lower-ranked opponents derailed him -- by all indications he is afraid the Tunisian federation's decision could harm his career. Few besides Jaziri in Tunisia have achieved a world ranking that would garner much notice. And, Jaziri could have risen to 135th had he won the tournament in Tashkent. Instead, when the new rankings were released on Monday, his ranking changed from 169th to 165th following last week's tournament.

Malek Jaziri drapes himself in his country's flag after he won
his first round match in the 2012 French Open.

While Arab countries have over the past decades observed boycotts of varying degrees against Israeli athletes in a protest over Israel's treatment of Palestinians, it's a shame to see athletes today become pawns in a geo-political chess game. And, in a sport which prides itself on global competition and is played worldwide, it's a disturbing interference of politics by a country (Tunisia) which is still searching for a democratic balance after its Jasmine Revolution paved the way for other Arab Spring revolutions a little more than two years ago. Tunisia has been in the midst of a political crisis for many months as a result of deadlocked negotiations between the ruling Islamist party, Ennadha, and the opposition over new parliamentary and presidential elections.

"It's a pity for the athletes who get caught up in these situations that end up hurting their personal career," said Shlomo Glickstein, the director of Israel's tennis association. In a statement, he added that it was sad such incidents such as what happened on Friday still occur.

In an interview with L'Equipe, Selima Sfar, a former Tunisian professional tennis player and the only Arab woman to achieve a top-100 world ranking (she was once ranked 75th in 2001), said she was shocked and worried about the "regressive" behavior shown her country's tennis federation.

Selima Sfar

"I am angry and disappointed," Sfar told the French sports daily. "It is a very bad image for my country. We fought hard to become professionals and now we are not supported."

Sfar, who retired from the tour in 2011, believes that political interference is unbearable. "Our people fought also with blood to move towards democracy and openness, and instead we are moving backwards," she said. "To play against an Israeli does not mean you are being a bad Tunisian Arabic or a bad Muslim. I'm proud to be Tunisian, Arab and Muslim, but I am ashamed of my country when it behaves like that."

In this day and age, it seems to me that if an Indian (Rohan Bophanna) and a Pakistani (Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi) can separate their differences and unite as a formidable doubles team, putting the politics of their two warring nations aside and promoting peace on the court, then an Arab nation which is struggling to establish its identity in the world of tennis should allow its best player to face all comers -- even if the player on the other side of the net is Israeli.

Just imagine, Jaziri and Weintraub could have used their match to try to improve relations between their countries. Ironically, both belong to the same French tennis club, Sarcelles Tennis, north of Paris. If they can both get along and be friends on and off the court -- they have known each other for years through their sport -- why can't Tunisia work towards promoting tolerance and understanding with Israel and allow Jaziri and other Tunisian athletes to compete against Israelis?

According to various published reports, the president of the Sarcelles tennis club, Jonathan Chaouat, said he spoke to Jaziri last Thursday night and that the player was upset that he would be unable to play Weintraub.

"He explained to me that he could not play the match," said Chaouat. "When I asked him where the pressure not to play was coming from he replied 'my country.'

"What is certain is that it was not Malek who decided not to play this match. Malek was taken hostage."

Malek Jaziri

Although he was reluctant to discuss the matter, Weintraub told the Jerusalem Post that Malek "is a good friend" and that "he really wanted to play."

While Jaziri has not spoken publicly about last week's incident, earlier he described the challenges of being a professional tennis player in the Arab world in an interview published on the tournament's website.

"In Arabic countries there is not a tradition of tennis except in North African countries like Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria," said Jaziri. "There are, however, professional events in the Arab world like in Dubai and Qatar, but the Arab countries should come out and give more opportunities to players from the region. Giving wild cards is not enough; they need to support players in other ways, too.

"Tennis is a tough sport. We as professional tennis players have to fight it out every day," he said. "One week is good, one week is bad. And, we have to go through these ups and downs. In some countries, the situation is favorable for tennis players because of the support of their associations. But in some countries, like ours, it is really bad. Life for us is a battle every day."

Asked about finding support in his home country, Jaziri said: "I had a national sponsor, but now my country is going through a very bad period economically and politically; it is not easy for me. I have a tough job at hand to manage my tennis. I want to travel with a coach, but can't afford one. But, I'm hoping that the situation will change for the better."

In an interview with Agence France-Presse on Monday, Amir Jaziri blasted the decision of the Tunsian tennis federation as "shocking, because it brings politics into sport. We are totally against that. And Malek is the first victim, because tennis is his career, his bread-winner.

"To be clear, Malek pulled out for sporting reasons, because he was injured. He did his warm up, something was wrong and the doctor found that his knee was swollen," Amir Jaziri said.

"But at the political level, we received an order not to play. It was an e-mail from the Tunisian Tennis Federation, via the technical director."

Amir Jaziri said in the interview with AFP that he didn't know whether his brother would have played the match if it weren't for the knee injury. He said he failed to understand how the Tunisian Tennis Federation could give such an order considering that Jaziri has previously faced Weintraub and Tunisia played against Israel in the 2009 Federation Cup.

"Tennis doesn't normally get much media coverage in Tunisia," said Amir Jaziri. "What happened was only done as part of an electoral campaign, and everyone profits (electorally) from this."

The International Tennis Federation (ITF), which has jurisdiction over federations (while the ATP -- the Association of Tennis Professionals -- has jurisdiction over the players), is investigating the whole matter involving the Tunisian federation forcing Jaziri to withdraw against his wishes at Tashkent. While it is unclear what, if any, sanctions might be imposed against the Tunisian federation, I'm in agreement with the ITF's ideals.

"The ITF believes that sport fosters good collaboration between nations," said ITF spokesman Nick Imison. "And, as such, players should be able to compete freely on the international circuit. If a federation were responsible for a player taking part that would go against the ethos of the organization and against the ITF constitution.

"The most important thing going forward is for Tunisian players to be able to play freely against any opponents in the future. That is the aim of all the tennis governing bodies."

A postscript: On Wednesday, the ATP released a statement saying it had completed its investigation and relieved Malek Jaziri of any culpability.

"We have found no wrongdoing on the part of the player and all of the information we have gathered has been passed  on to the ITF," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the ITF's investigation of the alleged forced pullout remains ongoing, said ITF spokeswoman Barbara Travers.

"The ITF takes any matter regarding discrimination very seriously and this incident will be discussed by the ITF Board of Directors at its regularly scheduled meeting (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) in Cagliari, Italy," Travers wrote in an e-mail. "We have asked the Federation Tunisinne de Tennis to make any relevant submissions to the ITF ahead of that meeting."

While Travers said the ITF would have no further comment until after the board meets, the ITF could bring sanctions against the Tunisian tennis federation, such as bans from Davis Cup competition, if it finds that the federation violated regulations. The ITF is also affiliated with the International Olympic Committee.

Malek Jaziri photographs courtesy of footplus.tn, rolandgarros.com and atpworldtour.com.
Selima Sfar photograph courtesy of tunisienumerique.com.