Davis Cup: AITA writes to ITF over shifting tie; PTF President fumes

The Indian national tennis team's reluctance to play in their upcoming Davis Cup match in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad is said to have infuriated the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF). The PTF chief Saifullah Khan has come down heavily on the All India Tennis Association (AITA), claiming that their Davis Cup team has ‘no intention’ of travelling to play their Group 1 Asia/Oceania tie scheduled in November 2019.

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Davis Cup: Tensions between India and Pakistan

Political tensions between the archrivals have been escalating ever since the Pulwama terror attacks in February this year. India revoking Section 370 pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir in August has also led to a breakdown in ties between the two countries. The Davis Cup draw was made in early February and the match was originally scheduled to be playing in September. However, the Indians cited 'security concerns' as their reason for delaying the match. 

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Davis Cup: AITA demand change in venue 

Earlier, the AITA had written to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) asking for the tie to either be shifted to a neutral venue or postponed by two months. The ITF decided to postpone the fixture to November 29-30. On Monday though, the AITA wrote to the world governing body again asking for a change in venue, citing security concerns. Incidentally, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Divij Sharan have expressed their unavailability for the tie in November due to personal commitments.

Also Read: AITA's Decision On Indo-Pak Davis Cup Tie Post ITF's 'security Review' 

Davis Cup: PTF president say on future of tie 

Speaking to a leading daily newspaper, PTF President Salim Saifullah Khan told that India making such a move was expected as he believes that the team never had any intention of travelling to Pakistan for the clash. Khan added that since the match would only span across two days, Indian players going to Islamabad wouldn't 'make heavens fall' as safety isn't a major issue.

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The Pakistan government had earlier guaranteed the safety of Indian team. He claims that India could have stuck to their September commitment and finished playing the tie. He alleged that their counterpart are mixing politics and sports, which is unfortunate. He even suggested the ban of all India-Pakistan ties instead of wasting the ITF’s time.