The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has asked for an explanation from the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) on the topic of a junior player being allegedly molested by five players and of them being allegedly overage. However, it will have to wait until the court pronounces its judgment on the topic before taking any action on the issue, said AITA Secretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee.
“We have spoken to (CLTA) and asked them to explain the situation,” Chatterjee told IANS. “Once we hear from them we will discuss it and since the matter is sub judice, we will wait for the court’s final decision.
“Let the court verify all the papers and give a clear verdict based on which we will take action. We have asked an explanation of what happened, let that come in and we will wait for the court’s decision.”
When asked if AITA would be using this as a trigger to crack down on the larger issue of age-fraud that has plagued the sport in the country for decades, Chatterjee said, “We don’t appreciate fudging of age or any indiscipline, we cannot support that. But unless we are totally sure about it we can’t take any action. We will definitely try to do whatever is required.”
Chatterjee said that the system in place has been tried and tested for many years. “We have a large number of registered players and out of that, there are hardly any numbers (of age fraud) we can talk about. But there is a problem. Let’s see, we will discuss it and try and tighten the procedure a little bit,” he said.
However, he reiterated that any decision in this matter will come only after CLTA provides an explanation, and after the court’s decision.
“Once we get the explanation, we will discuss how we should go forward. In this particular matter, we will wait for the court order,” said Chatterjee.
