They might have signed peace with the All India Tennis Association but that has not stopped the disgruntled players, led by Somdev
Devvarman, from forming the Indian Tennis Players Association to handle "contemporary issues" that have not been addressed by
AITA.
A few days after ending their revolt and making themselves available for the Davis Cup tie against Indonesia later this year, the 'rebels' have now come up with the ITPA to address players' concerns.
"A Not-for-Profit association, the ITPA is being constituted as a Section 25 Company and is built on the premise that the existing structure of tennis administration in the country does not represent or adequately address contemporary issues faced by players in the country," the players said in a statement.
The founding members of the ITPA include Jaidip Mukerjea, Mahesh Bhupathi, Karti P
Chidambaram, Enrico Piperno, Manisha Malhotra, Prahalad Srinath, Somdev
Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, Aditya Sachdeva and Mustafa Ghouse.
"We believe that the ITPA will provide the players a voice that will stand united in our concerns and suggestions for the improvement of the sport in the country," said
Somdev.
Mukherjee has been made interim President of the body.
"Mr. Jaidip Mukerjea, will act as interim President in the ITPA's formative period until the General Council and the General Body of the ITPA formally meet.
"The founding member players of the ITPA believe that Mr. Mukerjea will bring a balanced and objective view to the running of the organisation given his past accomplishments as a Davis Cup player and captain as well as a respected statesman," the statement read.
The 11 revolting players, led by Somdev Devvarman, had put forward a charter of demands before AITA ahead of the Chennai Open.
Emerging story. Watch this space for updates as more details come in
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