AITA says it is not worried even as HC stays Bhupathi ban

The Karnataka High Court on Saturday stayed the two-year All India Tennis Association ban on Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna from representing the country on disciplinary grounds. Acting on advocate Aditya Sondhi’s plea,who was the counsel for Bhupathi and Bopanna,Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar issued an emergent notice to the AITA,and the ministry of sports,challenging the decision of not considering the players from representing India till June,2014.

Though the players are relieved with the stay order,the AITA does not take it as a setback. The association says that this order does not imply the re-entry of the players in the national squad. “You have to understand that this is an ex-party stay and the AITA has not presented its side yet,” Anil Dhupar,chairman of the selection committee and AITA’s spokesperson,told The Sunday Express. “This move does not mean that Bhupathi,Bopanna are back in the team. Anyway no India team is being formed right now,so it is not an emergency situation for us.”

Dhupar added that he does not believe that the ban is unfair. “The allegations that Bhupathi is alleging the AITA of are baseless. I don’t know why he is blaming the AITA in the first place because wasn’t he our first choice member in the team for the Olympics. It was he who refused to play out of his ego. He should be thankful to the selection committee who sent him to London despite that,” Dhupar added.