Vishal Uppal’s removal as Billie Jean King Cup captain has surprised even the Executive Committee members of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) as the matter was not discussed by the decision-making body.
AITA on Monday announced that Uppal has been replaced by Shalini Thakur Chawla. AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar told PTI he spoke to Haryana Tennis Association (HTA) Secretary Suman Kapur about the change but the latter said he was only conveyed the decision, when ideally, it should have been discussed at the EC meeting.
Uppal was also not taken into confidence before the decision was made. Uppal had said he had no clue about his removal until the decision was made. Kapur, who is also a member of the EC, has also written to AITA Vice President (Sports) Hironmoy Chatterjee, expressing “serious concern” and demanded that an urgent EC meeting be called to discuss all important matters related to Indian tennis. In his letter to Chatterjee, Kapur wrote that he does not have anything against Shalini Thakur but any decision to replace Mr. Vishal Uppal should have been taken after discussions in the AITA Executive Committee, which had given him the job.
“The news of his sudden replacement, without any discussions within the AITA Executive Committee, has come as a big surprise,” Kapur wrote. On Monday, Dhupar had made it clear that there was no politics or agenda behind the move, saying the change was made as it’s a women’s team and we just wanted women
coaching staff”.