from
www.thebladder.com
TENNIS
Scud passport removed
by STAFF REPORTERS
Tennis star Mark Philippoussis will be unable to re-enter the country
after having his passport confiscated by Australia's UK Ambassador
this morning.
The passport removal came after Philippoussis lost his first round
match at the Queens tournament to the world's number 866 player,
Englishman Ian Flanagan who was playing his first match ever at the
elite level.
"There's no excuse for un-Australian behaviour like that,"
Australia's Ambassador Sir Les McKenzie told
thebladder.com. "Philippoussis has responsibilities as an Australian,
that go above and beyond pre-Wimbledon preparations and whether his
serve is working on any given day.
"Australians do not lose to the English in tennis or cricket. Full
stop. We also do not lose to players ranked outside the top 800. Scud
is free to join Jelena Dokic in searching for a new flag to play
under."
At this stage, it is unclear whether song siren Delta Goodrem will
also have her passport revoked. "Everybody who reads the glossy mags
knows that Delta and Philippoussis are close companions but at this
stage we don't believe Delta condoned her boyfriend's behaviour in
losing to Flanagan."
Officials from the Australian Embassy plan to interview Goodrem
today, to demand she reject Phillippoussis's performance out of hand.
They also plan to ask her some pointed questions about the last Ashes
cricket series, to test her patriotism.
Minikommentit