NEW DELHI: Indian national tennis federation All India Tennis Association (AITA) has initiated legal proceedings against Doordarshan (DD), the government-owned broadcaster for not honouring the agreement on telecasting its matches, Press Trust of India reports.
India are set to host a formidable Italian side on 1-2 February in Kolkata and the AITA is fearing that DD may not provide the coverage unless the judiciary intervenes. AITA began its association with Doordarshan since 1997 and their contract is renewed every five years. The latest renewal was done in January 2017. As per the agreement, DD has the exclusive rights to cover the Davis Cup matches in India and international tournaments, including Challengers and Futures.
“In the last one year DD has not been honouring the agreement and has failed to telecast major international events causing a great loss of reputation to the AITA in front of ATP, WTA and ITF,” AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee said.
“As per our agreement with DD, AITA cannot approach any other broadcasters. At the same time DD is not confirming whether they are telecasting the (Italy) tie or not. ITF is in continuous correspondence with AITA and is deeply concerned about the status of ‘live’ telecast of the event.
“Having failed to receive any positive response from DD in the last 2 months, AITA has initiated legal proceedings before the Hon’ble High Court against DD asking for specific performance on telecast of Davis Cup tie,” he concluded.
