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Post office accused of Davis Cup stamp snub

Caroline Bishop
Caroline Bishop - [email protected]
Post office accused of Davis Cup stamp snub
Swiss Davis Cup team captain Severin Luethi hoists the Davis Cup. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Swiss post office Die Post has come under fire for failing to recognize the success of Switzerland’s Davis Cup-winning team with a commemorative stamp.

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The post office has previously honoured Swiss sporting success by issuing special stamps, notably of tennis champ Roger Federer in 2007 and the world championship-winning Swiss national hockey team in 2013.

But no such stamp has been issued to celebrate the efforts of Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Severin Luethi and Marco Chiudinelli who defeated France to win Switzerland its first ever Davis Cup title in November.

Quoted by tabloid Blick, the president of Swiss Tennis, René Stammbach, said: “Die Post thinks that our achievement is less important than a gold medal at the hockey world championships. Tennis is universal, whereas hockey only concerns a few countries. It’s scandalous!”

Asked to respond, Die Post spokesperson Oliver Flüeler said: “The question was asked, but we don’t issue a commemorative stamp every year.

“Since 1999 there have been five, three of which were linked to the world of sport. In 2007 Federer even became the first living Swiss person to get a stamp.

“We have to vary things and consider social, cultural and political achievements too,” he added.

Responding to the story, newspaper Le Matin has come up with five alternative ways the country could honour the Davis Cup win, from renaming streets after each Davis Cup team member (Federer already has one in Biel/Bienne) to erecting a statue of the team and naming SBB trains after them.

The paper even suggests a certain fast food chain should name a salad after the team, in a nod to the famous ‘saladier’ trophy, which resembles a salad bowl.

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