New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) The sports ministry Monday asked All India Tennis Association (AITA) to submit more documents for the reimbursement of the long-pending bills of the top tennis players, who last week threatened to skip Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games over their dues.
Rahul Bhatnagar, joint secretary in the sports ministry, Monday met AITA secretary-general Anil Khanna and chairman of the Commonwealth Games preparation programme Jaideep Mukherjea over the players’ dues.
Bhatnagar said the ministry needs more details to start the reimbursement process, which can take at least a fortnight.
‘Mr Anil Khanna and Mr Jaideep Mukerjea along with other officials brought some documents today but they were not complete. We had said we will try to work with basic documentation but what they brought didn’t suffice,’ Bhatnagar told IANS.
‘The AITA informed us that the players have not submitted all the bills, but hopefully they will find a solution. What AITA submitted today is the certification, audited by their chartered accountant, that the players have participated in tournaments over the last two years. It is for the AITA to be satisfied before submitting the bills to us.’
‘We will be needing more details on their stay during tournaments, that it was not sponsored or a free hospitality from the tournament organisers. Also, we need more clarity on their air fares. We are told that they travel business class but what they are entitled to under the Commonwealth Games schemes is the economy class fares as per Balmer Lawrie rates,’ the official said.
‘They will now be submitting the required documents by tomorrow morning. The bills will be with us for a few days and after that they will be moved to our finance department. The whole procedure can take at least a fortnight,’ he said.
In a statement, Khanna and Mukherjea called their meeting with Bhatnagar ‘very fruitful’ and said all the payment issues of the players’ have been resolved.
‘All payment issues regarding elite players have been resolved and with minimal documentation. The ministry has agreed to process the papers at the earliest so that elite players can receive their dues under the CWG preparation programme within two-three weeks,’ the release said.
Top tennis players’ Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna last week threatened to pull out of the Commonwealth Games if their dues were not paid.
