With the results of last year’s AITA elections (September 28, 2024) still unannounced, due to a pending petition filed by some former players in the Delhi High Court
Representational image. Pic/iStock
Not a ball is even close to being served in India’s Davis Cup clash against Switzerland in Biel on September 12-13, but there are loads of volleys, of a verbal kind, that have already been exchanged between the two factions within the All-India Tennis Association (AITA).
With the results of last year’s AITA elections (September 28, 2024) still unannounced, due to a pending petition filed by some former players in the Delhi High Court, PTI has reported that two team managers have been named for the Davis Cup fixture. The Executive Committee (EC) has selected Tripura association’s secretary Sujit Roy while Anil Dhupar, who was removed from the Secretary General’s position and replaced by Sunder Iyer as Interim Secretary following an EC meeting on June 27 and is currently challenging the meeting’s legality, has insisted that traditionally the Secretary General travels with the team as manager. Dhupar claims that AITA President Anil Jain has also approved and sanctioned his name for the same.
The EC however, is up in arms about this.
“If there is an Executive Committee in place, then how can the President and the Secretary General dictate things? Also, this Secretary General was removed after 18 out of 25 members were in agreement of his ouster. He has been rejected unanimously. So, is there no place for democracy in Indian sports administration anymore? This is nothing but autocracy and has to be stopped,” one of the members of the EC told mid-day on Wednesday.
Even as Dhupar has approached the court about his removal and the hearing is on September 10, players and tennis aficionados will be hoping things will be resolved soon after the National Sports Governance Act 2025 has come into force, with President Droupadi Murmu giving her assent for it on Monday, August 18.
With inputs from PTI
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