Veteran tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi is likely to drag the All India Tennis Association to court for ‘banning’ him and Rohan Bopanna for two years. Both Bhupathi and Bopanna were banned from representing the country till June 30, 2014, on disciplinary grounds, says a report in The DNA.
“Rohan has played for India for 10 years and I have played for about 18 years now. And to get slapped with something like this, I take this as rough. We are exploring it, we don’t know yet but I don’t think what they have done and the way they have done it , is fully legal. So we are exploring if what they have done is right and obviously if not legal, we are going to go after it.”
Bhupathi and Bopanna earlier refused to team up with Leander Paes for the Olympics which was followed by massive controversies.
Bhupathi said that the federation took the decision because of personal vendetta, “ It’s been going on with me and the association and heads of the federation for years now. I am just upset and afraid that my friend and partner Rohan has got caught in the middle of this dirty game. I have been quiet for a long time.”
Meanwhile, The Times of India reports that Bhupathi and Bopanna had sought an explanation from the All India Tennis Association. the doubles pair wants to know the procedure adopted to ban them for two years.