AITA makes it clear that action could be initiated against Bhupathi if he continues with his demand of not playing with Paes in Beijing
NEW DELHI: Mahesh Bhupathi’s grievance with AITA and Leander Paes may be about lack of communication but his excessive communication to the press has not gone down well with the federation. No matter how bonafide his case, the view gathering storm within AITA is that this is nothing more than personal animosity with Paes being played out, especially since a private communication has been leaked blatantly.
As of now, the only way Leander Paes can play his fifth Olympics is if he pairs up with Bhupathi (11) or with Rohan Bopanna (50).
As the 24th-ranked doubles player in the world with just the French Open to play before the cut-off date for the Beijing Olympics draw comes around, there is no way that Paes can get a direct entry with any other Indian sans these two. If both refuse to play with him then Paes is denied of participation in his fifth Summer Games — a personal target that he has been quite vocal about.
“Mahesh will play the Olympics and he will play with Leander,” is AITA secretary Anil Khanna’s resounding belief. He dismissed any talk of asking for a wildcard to accommodate two pairs. “Are we going there to make up the numbers or do we want to field the only team which has the chance of getting a medal?”
There has been a lot of animosity between the AITA and Bhupathi in the past with the latter having no qualms about exposing the federation as inefficient. His refusal to play with Paes at the Olympics, however, has finally handed the body the stick that it has been looking for to go after him.
Khanna refuses to confirm or deny anything but there is no doubt that the moment Bhupathi backs off from going to the Olympics, the AITA will have the necessary excuse and the public opinion to squeeze him.
Already a letter has been shot off to Bopanna to explain his comments in a national daily and make it clear if he was unconditionally offering himself for selection to play the Games for India.
Next in line is planned the exclusion of both from Davis Cup ties — not that either is too keen on them anyway under the captaincy of Paes — following which will be a critical look into the tournaments that Bhupathi’s company Globosport organises. The business angle of sponsors backing off and the possible fallout in the form of diminished public image is what the federation is looking to make Bhupathi change his stance.
The AITA is categorical: “We are sending no other entry apart from Leander and Mahesh. If there is no response from Mahesh within the next week, we will then think of a further course of action,” says Khanna.
The federation officials feel that the soft stance taken during the recent Davis Cup controversy has given the players the erroneous impression that the AITA won’t play hardball. “Where the pride of the country is concerned, there will be no compromise,” Khanna asserts.
