Somdev terms AITA to be ‘unprofessional & unethical’

Somdev DevvarmanNew Delhi: Lambasting the All India Tennis Association for their unprofessional and unethical behaviour, Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman, who is leading a players' revolt against AITA, on Saturday said that the players are disappointed.

"The things that AITA have done last week have been unprofessional and unethical. Players are disappointed. 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," Somdev said according to media reports.

The AITA on Friday ignored the eight revolting players, including veteran 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 refused to make themselves available within a set deadline.

"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 on friday. 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.