AITA requests Khanna not to quit post

The President of the All India Tennis Association, Anil Khanna, had hinted about quitting his post following the raising of doubts about his appointment by the Union Sports Ministry.

The government had realised rather late that Anil Khanna was ineligible to be the president after having served the AITA for three terms as secretary general.

The Executive Committee of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), which met here on Thursday, has requested its president Anil Khanna, not to step down from his post, as he had hinted in his communication to the Union Sports Ministry last month.

The vice-president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the president of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), Anil Khanna, was advised by the AITA Executive that the matter had to be pursued with the government once again. The secretary general of the AITA, Bharat Oza, said that the life president of the AITA, Yashwant Sinha, was also of the same view, as the AITA was following the Sports Code, and that the legal opinion had also been convincing on the subject.

"We have explained our position very elaborately. We will write another letter, touching the key points, perhaps in a legal jargon," said Oza.

If the government was still unconvinced, the AITA was willing to go to court to establish its stand. "The tennis association is one of the best in the country. The government agrees about it," said Oza.

The government had realised rather late that Anil Khanna was ineligible to be the president after having served the AITA for three terms as secretary general. However, the amended code, as approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and incorporated in the constitution of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), does not specify a cooling off period between two posts, while saying that a person could hold office for five terms in all.