Tennis
Davis Cup Committee ordered India to play tie in Pakistan, claims PTF
PTF's claim came after India raised security concerns over sending its team to Pakistan. If India refuses to send its team to Islamabad, Pakistan will be declared the winner.
FILE PHOTO: Rohan Bopanna celebrates with his Indian teammates after beating Morocco 3-1 in the Davis Cup World Group II on Sunday.
The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) said on Friday that the International Tennis Federation's Davis Cup Committee had asked India to play its tie in Pakistan.
PTF's claim came after India raised security concerns over sending its team to Pakistan.
“The ITF has said that Pakistan will retain its hosting rights and has rejected the security concerns raised by India,” a PTF official told news agency PTI.
The Davis Cup Committee has accepted the PTF presentation against the All Indian Tennis Association’s (AITA) refusal to send its Davis Cup team to Pakistan for the Group I Playoff tie in Islamabad in the first week of February.
According to the official, the ITF has made it clear that if AITA does not send its team to Islamabad for the tie, Pakistan will be declared the winner.
"There is no basis for India having security concerns about playing in Pakistan,” the official said.
AITF recently told the Davis Cup Committee that it would be impossible for India to send the team to Pakistan and demanded a neutral venue.
Since then the PTF president Salim Saifullah Khan has taken up the matter with ITF, seeking clarification.
Since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, India has consistently refused to travel to Pakistan for any sports events.
In 2019, India's Davis Cup tie against Kazakhstan was moved out of Pakistan on the advice of the ITF.
