The All India Tennis Association on Saturday lashed out at Australia for pulling out of next month's Davis Cup tie against India, saying they have acted in an "arrogant" and "irresponsible" manner "by creating a situation solely out of their mind and not based on facts".
AITA also said it would convey its sentiments to the International Tennis Federation in a letter following Australia withdrawing from the May 8-10 Asia-Oceania Group I tie barely a day after the game's governing body rejected its plea to shift the match from Chennai.
"Despite the ITF security team had given an excellent report that India is safe for the Aussie players, they have pulled out of the tie. This indicates a certain order of arrogance and a highly irresponsible action on the part of Tennis Australia," Khanna told reporters.
In a letter sent to AITA, Tennis Australia President Geoff Pollard had cited "high security risk during the Indian election" as the reason for pulling out of the tie.
"We asked for the tie to be moved because we have major security concerns for players, particularly during [Indian] election. The ITF decision has left us with no other option but not to send the team. It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk," Pollard had said in the letter.
But, Khanna is not amused and said TA's decision might have been influenced by the players who do not want to come to India.
"We have got the letter and are extremely disappointed with their decision. The reasons cited for pulling out of the tie reflect their ignorance. They are creating a situation solely out of their mind and not based on facts. We will intimate our sentiments to ITF in writing," he said.
"We have a very peaceful elections. Even if incidents do occur but those have nothing to do with the Davis Cup tie. TA's decision might have been influenced by the players who do not want to travel to India," Khanna said.
"Australia is also a member of ITF Board of Directors. They should have acted responsibly. They had done like this earlier also by not sending their team in Indonesia in a junior event. I hope they would act responsibly in future and learn lessons," he added.
Australia now face a fine of US $100,000 and a one-year ban for not abiding by the ITF verdict, but Khanna was guarded in his response on this.
"TA could face financial penalty or may be demoted from Group I to Group II. But we will leave that to ITF. It depends on what ITF Board takes a decision," he said.
"BNP Paribas and other international sponsors must also be disappointed. Generally the tennis fraternity in the world would not appreciate TA's decision. This was an important event for the Davis Cup. It was also an important event for us before the 2010 Commonwealth Games," Khanna said.
Khanna, also President of the Asian Tennis Association, had earlier said he would even proposed for Australia being dissociated from the Asia/Oceania group, but on Saturday he would not drum up the issue.
"That is something to be looked into realistically and Australia to think about," he said.
Khanna thanked the ITF for taking a "correct decision" on the issue and appreciated the support AITA got from the Sports Ministry.
"We appreciate ITF's objective decision. The Sports Ministry had also supported us throughout," he said.
The AITA General Secretary also ridiculed the general talk of Australian sports officials trying to drum up security concern even for the 2010 CWG, saying the Games will be held successfully without any security hiccups.
