Pakistan Refuses To Accept Defeat; Will Appeal To ITF Board Of Directors

Written by: Staff on 1st May 2013

Pakistan Refuses To Accept Defeat; Will Appeal To ITF Board Of Directors |

Pakistan refuses to accept defeat after the International Tennis Federation’s Davis Cup committee today denied any appeal against the decision of Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala to award last month’s Asia/Oceania tie staged in the neutral venue of Myanmar (Burma) to New Zealand after a large hole near the baseline rendered the grass court dangerous and unplayable.

With options now running out, it seems the Pakistan Tennis Federation is fighting a losing battle. Nevertheless the PTF secretary Mumtaz Yousuf insisted an appeal against the denial will be lodged with the ITF’s full board of directors and said: “It’s a disappointing decision.

Pakistan has been diligent in their efforts to overturn Ajigala’s decision and even flew their only world class player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to London in a bid to appeal to the ITF’s better sense of judgment. According to Davis Cup regulations, the referee is empowered to call off any tie and award victory to the visiting team if the home team fails to provide a playable surface. In addition, the regulation clearly states: The referee’s decision is final.”.

Only yesterday the PTF gained the support of the Asian Tennis Federation whose president Anil Khanna sent a written request direct to the Davis Cup Committee in London, imploring a decision to overturn referee Ajigala’s decision, following a board meeting in Bangkok.

Such a request was proved to be in vain and the ITF’s Davis Cup committee this morning issued a statement, that stated: “The Pakistan Tennis Federation did not organize the tie to the required standards.”

The Davis Cup committee stressed the referee tried to continue the tie on the practice court after deciding the match court was of poor quality. “Following the deterioration of the second court, specifically during the second match, the referee determined that this court was now unplayable and a risk to player safety,” read the statement.

“The referee also deemed that the court would not become playable in the next 24 hours due to its poor condition, and awarded the tie to New Zealand.”

In this case the ITFs Davis Cup committee was chaired by the ITF’s Executive Vice President Juan Margets (Spain) and also comprised Armando Cervone (Argentina), Guy Forget (France in the role of observer), Tom Gorman (USA), Geoff Pollard (Australia), Charles Trippe (Britain) and Slobodan Zivojinovic (Serbia).

The Committee cited Regulation 44(d) of the ITF Davis Cup Regulations which states that “the Referee may call off a Tie and award the victory to the Visiting Nation if the Home Nation fails to provide a playable court as per Regulation 38”; and Regulation 44(e) which states that “the decision of the Referee is final”. Regulation 38 refers to the surface of the courts and playing conditions.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi, Davis Cup tennis news, International Tennis Federation’s Davis Cup, ITF tennis news, New Zealand tennis, Pakistan Tennis Federation, Sports