Somdev Devvarman, who is leading a players’ revolt against the All India Tennis Association (AITA), on Saturday lambasted the body and called it “unprofessional” and “unethical” for snubbing the rebel group.
The AITA on Friday ignored the eight revolting players, including Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and named a second-string Davis Cup squad that will take on South Korea for the Asia/Oceania Group I tie from February 1 to 3.
The move came after the revolting players failed to make themselves available within a set deadline.
“The things that AITA have done last week have been unprofessional and unethical. Players are disappointed,” Somdev said from Melbourne.
“I think AITA have made a lot of claims and everything but the truth is we haven’t got anything in writing. That is the thing players have asked for; we want that in writing because it would be foolish, given the history of AITA, to go into an agreement based on faith.
“Nothing came in writing, I can guarantee you that. The last e-mail that we received was on January 6 and that had nothing of the things that they said in the press release yesterday. It just goes to show what sort of federation they are,” he added.
Somdev said the players have asked for just basic rights and want the AITA to deal with them professionally.
“It is simple; all that players are asking is keep us in light of what is being done. We raised a few concerns and we want to be dealt with professionally.
“What we are asking is basic rights, unfortunately we are not able to communicate that properly to the executive body or selection committee or the AITA in general and it is disappointing,” he said.
