“We have not received any communication till Monday afternoon from the Badminton Association of India regarding the recommendation of the disciplinary committee to slap a life ban on G. Jwala and there is no question of her tendering any apology,” says G. Kranthi, father of the champion doubles player.
It maybe recalled here that the life ban recommendation was made after it was alleged that Jwala tried to prevent her players from playing in the recent IBL league match leading to a delay of about 30 minutes.
Intervening at the media briefing of the Clean Sports India here on Tuesday which was addressed by Dronacharya S.M. Arif and B.V.P. Rao, convenor of CSI, Kranthi said that they would endorse “whatever Arif Sir advises in this regard.”
“There is no question of Jwala tendering any apology. What mistake did she make and we have advised her to seek legal remedy as and when she gets the copy of the notice from the BAI,” the renowned coach said.
“We believe that the treatment being meted out to Jwala is with a prejudice and this is not the way to treat someone who brought laurels to the country. In fact, we believe that a defamation suit should be filed against the BAI top brass for tarnishing her reputation,” Arif remarked. “Life ban is generally imposed on anyone who commits a very serious crime tarnishing the image of the sport itself. But, in Jwala’s case it defies logic and is absurd,” he argued.
“Right now, Jwala’s entry has been forwarded to the Denmark Open and other international events lined up in the next few days. If the BAI takes a different stand on this, then our course of action will be much more serious,” both Kranti and Arif warned.
BVP Rao pointed out that normally they would not take up individual cases. ‘But, we decided to extend all possible help to Jwala since she is up against a system in BAI which is detrimental to the players’ interests,” said.
“We in fact appeal to BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta to talk to Jwala and sort out the issue in a more amicable manner,” Rao concluded.
Jwala’s women’s doubles partner Ashwini Ponappa was also present at the briefing but did not say anything.
