New Delhi, September 18: Lashing out at the All India Tennis Association, Mahesh Bhupathi blamed the tennis body for playing 'dirty politics' adding that he being termed as a traitor is unacceptable to him.
In a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, Bhupathi blamed AITA president Anil Khanna for taking full advantage of the rift between him and Leander Paes.
Earlier, Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had sought an explanation from the AITA; they asked the parent body to make known the procedure adopted in slapping the doubles stars with a two-year ban for their stand prior to the July-August London Olympics.
The AITA ethics body apparently recommended that Bhupathi and Bopanna should not be considered to represent the country until June 30, 2014. Two days later, AITA's executive committee unanimously endorsed the decision.
Interestingly, the letter written by AITA secretary Bharat Oza also noted that the decision to send two men's doubles teams to the London Olympics was 'endorsed' after much debate.
It all started when Bhupathi and Bopanna staged a 'revolt' by refusing to partner Paes at the London Olympics.
The AITA, under pressure from the sports ministry, was forced to send two teams to London - allowing Bhupathi to partner Bopanna, and picking rookie Vishnu Vardhan to partner Paes.
Bhupathi and Bopanna were not picked in the Indian Davis Cup team that beat New Zealand in a Asia Oceania tie recently. On Saturday, the AITA announced that they won't be selected to play for India till June 30, 2014.
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