Pakistan-New Zealand Davis Cup Discord Continues

Written by: Staff on 19th April 2013

Pakistan-New Zealand Davis Cup Discord Continues |

The row over the abandoned Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and New Zealand in the neutral venue of Myanmar (Burma) after Sri Lankan match referee Ashita Ajigala halted play on the first day because a large and dangerous hole had developed near the baseline, continues to rage.

Initially victory was handed to New Zealand but the Pakistan Tennis Association have mounted a vehement appeal with the International Tennis Federation with player Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi flying to London to make his views known.

While the Pakistanis are confident of getting the tie replayed, or even awarded to them, at the London-staged appeal hearing next month, Tennis New Zealand chief executive Steve Johns understandably wants the result to stand and is bullish about the situation.

Firstly, I would expect that we would have a chance to voice our thoughts around the tie,” Johns said of the hearing. “As soon as you start tinkering with the rules, in allowing these types of appeals, it makes things problematic going forward.

“The referee is there to uphold the rules of the Davis Cup, and he made a decision. Do we want a situation where every time a referee makes a decision the country runs off to the ITF to appeal it? What we’ve seen from the ITF over the years is that they strictly adhere to the rule book.”

Johns revealed planning is going ahead for the projected tie between New Zealand and the Philippines in September. He continued: “”We have no plans for anything else until we hear the result of the appeal from the ITF.

“We would be very surprised if the ITF came out and said we had to replay the tie, but I guess it’s not out of the realms of possibility, and we’ll deal with that if and when it happens.”

Johns said he was unaware of any other instances where the result of a Davis Cup tie had been appealed, and he is keen to find out what happens from here.

“We think this is new ground in some respects,” he said. “We will enter into some dialogue with the ITF as soon as we hear from them, and at that stage we’ll hear what Pakistan is actually appealing and on what grounds. But we are not aware that this sort of thing has happened before.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi, Ashita Ajigala, Davis Cup, ITF tennis news, New Zealand tennis news, Pakistan tennis news, Tennis News