Dice loaded against Azhar in BAI elections

An otherwise banal event,the national badminton body (BAIs) election,suddenly spiced up by the mysterious interest shown by former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin in contesting for the top post....

An otherwise banal event,the national badminton body (BAIs) election,suddenly spiced up by the mysterious interest shown by former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin in contesting for the top post,is expected to turn bland again,with incumbent VK Verma confident of cruising to his fourth term.

Officials backing the long-term president are proclaiming an assured continuance of him as the associations president after the elections on Sunday,June 13.

Of the 61-62 votes to be cast of a total of 65,we are confident of getting 55. Thirty of the 34 state units have pledged their support to Mr Verma,though some like Railways and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board might vote against the present committee, a Verma supporter said.

Earlier,a Andhra Pradesh sessions court had refused to issue a stay order on the Badminton Association of India elections after the Azharuddin camp had approached them. Verma had initially questioned the ex-captains eligibility to contest as he was serving a life ban by BCCI for alleged match-fixing,but later cleared the air saying technically his eligibility was never in doubt.