KARACHI: Pakistan tennis star Aisam ul Haq Qureshi has termed International Tennis Federation's (ITF) decision to shift the Indo-Pak Davis Cup tie to a neutral venue as "shocking and disgraceful", saying by doing so the world body has discriminated with his country.
"A really shocking, embarrassing, disgraceful, sad and unfair decision by @ITF_Tennis to hold this @DavisCup tie on a neutral venue. Once again #Pakistan is getting penalised for someone else's actions. To me it's an absolute discrimination at every level," tweeted Qureshi, who had paired with India's Rohan Bopanna in the ATP circuit in the past.
In a big relief for India's national tennis federation (AITA), the ITF on Monday decided to shift the country's Davis Cup tie against Pakistan from Islamabad to a neutral venue.
The November 29-30 contest has already been rescheduled once, owing to security concerns raised by India.
The tie was scheduled to be held in September but was delayed when India expressed concerns about the safety of their players due to the prevailing diplomatic tensions between the two nations after the revocation of Article 370.
According to Davis Cup regulations, the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) now has the choice to nominate a neutral venue.
It has five working days to confirm its proposed venue.