AITA sets up panel but without executive powers

New Delhi : The All India Tennis Association on Sunday announced that it will set up a three-member committee to resolve the deadlock between players and the governing body. The committee will listen to the grievances of the top-20 ranked Indian players and help the federation form a new players' agreement. Former Supreme Court Justice Deepak Verma, retired IAS officer MC Gupta and former Davis Cupper and team captain Naresh Kumar are part of the committee, which will first meet on February 22nd and submit an interim report before the next tie.

"We don't want to face a situation again where we have competent players but are unable to win," AITA CEO Hiranmoy Chatterjee said after the loss to South Korea. "We did our best to get them on board but they made the excuse of not receiving things in writing. Over time players have developed a trust deficit with AITA, so we are setting up a neutral committee and we hope players will be available for the next tie," he added.

However, the AITA has limited the issues that the committee will consider — it will not include decisions on captain, coach and support staff — a matter on which Somdev Devvarman & Co. had made recommendations. Chatterjee confirmed that the suggestions the committee makes will not be binding on AITA and the executive board of the federation will have a final say.

no change

The players, however, see little sense in a appointing a committee that will not have decision making powers. They feel this step will not change the current situation which led them to stay away from the Davis Cup in the first place. "If their suggestions are not going to be binding why bother setting up a committee," a player said, adding that it was a ‘smoke screen.’

The AITA has also appointed Vece Paes as medical advisor and head of their sports science initiatives. The committee will also talk to women players and the new agreement will be extended to the Fed Cup team as well.