Match-fixing offer: Bhupathi’s remark irks national body

“This is a serious issue. Mahesh has brought out a matter that has got international publicity. The AITA has never come across the kind of incident that Bhupathi was talking about and, as far as we know, the sport in the country is clean.

“No incidents of this sort have ever occurred in our Davis Cup matches. It is a completely stray occurence,” said AITA secretary-general Anil Khanna at a press conference today.

Khanna also stated that the association would be discussing this with Mahesh soon after he returns from Melbourne.

“We want details of what happened from Mahesh himself. This has come as a shock to us as well; we had no prior information. We spoke to the captain (Paes) also, and he did not know anything about this incident either.

“We will be talking to the other players as well, just to see if we can find out any information. It is important to know exactly what happened and the level of its seriousness.”

Khanna refused to comment on whether Bhupathi would face any action, but it was clear the president of the Asian Tennis Federation was concerned with the dip the nation’s tennis image would face.

“We will certainly take note of all these issues and think about getting into place a code of conduct for players.”

An executive committee will be formed to inquire into the matter and the report will be submitted to the International Tennis Federation.