Sports

Rebels with a cause

Led by Somdev, disgruntled players form Players Association after signing peace pact with AITA

PTI

Posted On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 09:09:24 AM

They might have signed peace with the All India Tennis Association but that has not stopped the disgruntled players, led by Somdev Devvarman, from forming the Indian Tennis Players Association to handle "contemporary issues" that have not been addressed by AITA.

The Indian Tennis Players Association has been formed to give them a voice and that will stand united in their concerns

Afew days after ending their revolt and making themselves available for the Davis Cup tie against Indonesia later this year, the ‘rebels’ have now come up with the ITPA to address players’ concerns.

“A Not-for-Profit association, the ITPA is being constituted as a Section 25 Company and is built on the premise that the existing structure of tennis administration in the country does not represent or adequately address contemporary issues faced by players in the country.” the players said in a statement.

The founding members of the ITPA include Jaidip Mukerjea, Mahesh Bhupathi, Karti P Chidambaram, Enrico Piperno, Manisha Malhotra, Prahalad Srinath, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, Aditya Sachdeva and Mustafa Ghouse.

Improving the sport

“We believe that the ITPA will provide the players a voice that will stand united in our concerns and suggestions for the improvement of the sport in the country,” said Somdev. Mukherjee has been made interim President of the body.

“Mr. Jaidip Mukerjea, will act as interim President in the ITPA’s formative period until the General Council and the General Body of the ITPA formally meet.

“The founding member players of the ITPA believe that Mr. Mukerjea will bring a balanced and objective view to the running of the organisation given his past accomplishments as a Davis Cup player and captain as well as a respected statesman,” the statement read.

The 11 revolting players, led by Somdev Devvarman, had put forward a charter of demands before AITA ahead of the Chennai Open. AITA yielded to most of the demands but the players refused to compete in the Korea tie since they did not get a few assurances in writing.

The AITA recently gave all the assurances in writing which ended the rebellion. AITA agreed to increase players' share in Davis Cup prize money, change the support staff and consult them for choice of venue and surface.

The players the ITPA is their way of improving the game's standard in the country. “The ITPA will comprise of and has opened its membership to all current and former international and national tennis players.

It will primarily function as a forum and platform to represent the professional interests of its members and, thereby, improve the standard of tennis in the country,” the players’ statement explained.

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