Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna’s act of making public his conversation with All India Tennis Association (AITA) general secretary Anil Dhupar will be referred to its ethics and managing committee, the sports body said on Tuesday.
AITA also issued its full correspondence with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) regarding the qualification of India’s men’s doubles team for the Tokyo Olympics.
Trying to clear the air around the negative perception created by Bopanna and Sania Mirza’s remarks, AITA recorded how it aggressively filed the case of Bopanna and Divij Sharan for their entry into the Games between June 28 and July 16. carried forward from
E-mail correspondence revealed that on 2 July, AITA sought an explanation from the ITF as to how the world body admitted the USA (CR 118), Spain (CR 170) and Portugal (CR 204) to men’s doubles, due to the fact Even though their combined rank was below Bopanna and Sharan’s 113rd rank.
Another correspondence revealed that AITA had requested the ITF to consider Bopanna and Sharan’s 2018 Asian Games achievement.
The ITF, however, announced back in 2018 that only the singles winners would be given the Asian continental quota.
AITA made the correspondence public after Bopanna tweeted a video of the call-recording, in which Dhupar was heard saying that the ITF has accepted Bopanna and Sharan’s entry in men’s doubles.
Dhupar was heard telling Bopanna, “Keep your fingers crossed, maybe we will get good news (of merit) tomorrow.”
Asked exclusively by Bopanna whether his and Sharan’s entries have been accepted, Dhupar replied in the affirmative.
Bopanna’s argument was why AITA gave him false hope of qualification.
Dhupar said, “The action of recording the call and making it public will not be accepted. The matter will be looked into by AITA’s Managing Committee and Ethics Committee.
“Both the committees will decide whether disciplinary action is required against Bopanna.”
Dhoopar said the “unfortunate” episode could change the way the federation treats players.
“I fear it is likely that we will only interact with the players via e-mail, so that everything is clear. They cannot go on recording the call and making it public.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if other sports federations also heed Bopanna’s words and start communicating with their players in a different way,” he added.
When asked whether Bopanna would be considered for selection in India’s Davis Cup squad, Dhupar declined to comment.
“I cannot say what will happen, but if action is recommended against him, his name will not be given to the selection committee for consideration.”
The selection committee is usually given 15 names after examining the availability of players to choose a five-man squad.
India will next face Finland in September.
The controversy started when it emerged that AITA said it had withdrawn Sharan and paired Bopanna with Sumit Nagal to give India a better chance of qualifying for the men’s doubles.
The ITF, citing rules, said the change was not possible and that even if India were to pair Bopanna with Nagal, the new pair would not qualify.
AITA, however, remained optimistic that more withdrawals could push the Indian team into the competition.
Dhupar said that he had also asked for a wild card for Leander Paes so that the veteran could get a record eighth appearance in the Olympic Games.
“We wanted Leander to get this phenomenal feat but the ITF told us there were no wild cards this time. We fought for Bopanna and Sharan too but unfortunately they couldn’t get in. It was not our fault that they Couldn’t qualify because of his rankings,” he said.
In the release, AITA also did not appreciate Sania saying that her chance of a medal in the mixed team has been missed.
“Even Sania Mirza’s comments are the most inappropriate, as there was no chance of her pairing with Rohan in the mixed doubles event until she qualified.
“Rohan’s ranking with Divij or Sumit Nagal was not enough to qualify. So how did we lose the opportunity to win a medal in men’s doubles or mixed doubles.
“This tweet and statement of Mr. Bopanna has been categorically condemned by AITA,” the statement said.
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