Three months is a long time in the politics of sport so the adage – “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings” – is still applicable here wethinks. Having said that, the Pakistan Tennis Federation has reportedly (for now) won its ongoing battle against the All Indian Tennis Association’s (AITA) over PTF’s hosting rights for next year’s Davis Cup Group I Play-Off tie.
Pakistan’s media reports that the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) 15-member Davis Cup Committee has rejected security concerns raised by AITA as a reason for its refusal to send the Indian Davis Cup team to Pakistan to figure in the Group I Play Off tie scheduled to be held in Islamabad in the first week of February.
“The ITF Davis Cup Committee has rejected Indian security concerns and directed the Indian federation to send its team for an important tie, failing which the tie will be awarded to Pakistan,” a source within the ITF Davis Cup Committee confirmed to The News.
The Committee in a consensus decision declared that Indian stance not to travel to Pakistan “has no solid grounds”, the report claims.
“There is no such situation in Pakistan where an Indian team cannot travel and participate in the Davis Cup tie. Pakistan has hosted some important Davis Cup ties just recently in a successful manner so there is no solid reason as to why they cannot host the tie against India. Maintaining law and order is a sole responsibility of the host nation. Indian team should rest assured that required security measures will be in order for their travel and participation,” the committee reportedly opined.
AITA recently communicated to the Davis Cup Committee that it would not be possible for their national team to play the tie in Pakistan in three months’ time, stressing that the tie should be organised at a neutral venue.
As per The News, PTF president Salim Saifullah Khan took a strong exception to the Indian refusal to play the tie in Pakistan and communicated to the ITF Davis Cup Committee that Pakistan has all the right to go ahead with the Davis Cup tie hosting. Besides personally taking up the matter with ITF president David Haggerty, Khan and his team submitted a presentation with the ITF Davis Cup Committee last week.
This is not the first time that the AITA has taken such a position on playing a tie in Pakistan. The last time Team India was to visit, in 2019, India’s concerns were accepted by the ITF and the tie was shifted to a neutral venue – Kazakhstan.
The presentation also highlighted recent sports exchanges between the two countries including baseball, kabaddi and bridge teams’ visits to Pakistan.
“After going through the presentation, the ITF DCC decided the case in favour of Pakistan, directing the AITA to send their team for the tie, failing which the tie will be awarded to Pakistan. It is indeed a big news for Pakistan sports and first real jolt to India,” an unnamed PTF official asserted.
