Mahesh Bhupathi, AITA look to convince ITF for change in venue

Mahesh Bhupathi

New Delhi: India's tennis federation will look to convince world body ITF into changing the venue of their Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in Islamabad with team captain Mahesh Bhupathi likely to play a key role in the tele-consultation on Monday.

The tie has become a matter of speculation ever since Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India citing the revocation of the special status enjoyed by the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

India had named a full-strength team for the September 14-15 tie in Islamabad. But after Jammu and Kashmir was turned into a union territory, Pakistan asked the Indian ambassador to leave their country, halted a goodwill train service and tried to kick up an international row by continuously issuing aggressive statements against India.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) nonetheless has a tough job at hand to convince the ITF to provide a neutral venue since the World Governing body still feels that current circumstances do not demand a change in venue. "Safety and security are the ITF's highest priority. We are working closely with the host nation and independent expert security advisors, and the ITF is satisfied with their current security assessment of the site and the security plan in place," ITF said in a statement.

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