 "Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja have taken the AITA to court over alleged violations of the Sports Code. Reuters")
Former Indian tennis player Somdev Devvarman has called for “accountability and transparency” for Indian tennis, after he and fellow player Purav Raja dragged the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to court for violating a number of provisions of the National Sports Development Code.
According to the Indian Express, the duo had filed a petition against the AITA in the Delhi High Court on Monday. The two of them alleged that the violations of the Sports Code included “lack of any seats for athletes in Central Council / General Assembly of AITA, and also a lack of any mechanism for athletes to elect sportspersons of outstanding merit to represent them in the Central Council / General Assembly.”
Added to these, there is also “lack of reservation of seats for athletes in the Executive Committee, and also a lack of any mechanism whereby athletes are elected from the Central Council / General Assembly to the Executive Committee”.
Somdev Devvarman’s full statement on ‘X’
Here’s what Somdev Devvarman wrote in his statement on “X” on Tuesday, a day after filing the petition:
“Accountability and transparency are essential for Indian tennis to rise from the unprecedented low it has currently fallen to. The conduct of the federation is in direct conflict with the law of the land: It does not follow the Sports Code, it flouts the judgements of the courts and its administrators chose to ignore the most basic guidelines for sports governance while fighting over the spoils that the players have achieved.
“We succeeded as professionals despite a broken system. A system that was corrupt, insensitive and incompetent. But does every little girl and boy out there who picks up a racquet and dares to dream have to fight for the same fight? The system should enable dreams not crush them. We owe it to the sport that has given us all that we have to make a difference. We owe it to the future, we owe it to India.
“Massive thanks to our legal team who agreed to represent us. Rahul Mehra, Anuradha Iyer, Jhanvi Dubey and the rest of the advocates who worked tirelessly to present our case in the most sensible manner, and finally our most sincere gratitude to the Indian tennis community of players, coaches, parents, juniors and well-wishers who have reached out to us with relentless support and optimism. To better days ahead for Indian tennis. Jai Hind,” Devvarman said in the statement.