CHENNAI : Over the last 48 hours, the situation in Jammu & Kashmir has taken a turn for the worse. Late on Friday, the state government asked tourists to leave ‘immediately’ because of new intelligence about ‘terror threats’ in the region. “Visitor numbers have been boosted by the Amarnath Yatra, which draws hundreds of thousands of Hindus each year,” an agency reported on Saturday. “The pilgrimage has been cancelled because of the scare... A second smaller pilgrimage, the Machail Mata Yatra, was also cancelled on Saturday.”
Considering the given situation, a few in the tennis fraternity have urged the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to rethink the trip to Pakistan for the Davis Cup tie. “Kashmir on edge as admin calls off Amarnath Yatra due to terror threats. Will it impact the security of the Indian Davis Cup team going to Pakistan?” asked Karti Chidambaram on Twitter.
Given a few players have expressed their jitters which led to Mahesh Bhupathi writing a letter to AITA seeking assurances over the safety of the contingent, the situation could yet turn. But, AITA are insisting that the tie will go ahead as planned. “No, there will be no problems,” a senior AITA official told this daily. The sports ministry said they do not interfere in federation autonomy. “We do not interfere in federation autonomy. Neither permission is required nor do we prohibit or assist.”
Meanwhile, AITA have started the visa process after the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) gave AITA a letter of invitation earlier this week. However, they do have the option of forfeiting the tie altogether (something they will be forced to do anyway if the final clearance from the centre government doesn’t come).
If they do decide to take that route, India could be relegated, with Pakistan advancing to the next round. That’s because the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have expressed their satisfaction with arrangements. “We can confirm that ITF conducted a site visit this week (July last), as is protocol before Davis Cup ties, and is satisfied with all arrangements,” an ITF spokesperson told this daily.
There is already a precedent for this involving Pakistan. After Hong Kong refused to travel for an Asia-Oceania Group II tie in 2017, the ITF Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP) relegated them one level (Zone Group II to Zone Group III) apart from fining the Hong Kong Tennis Association USD 5000.