Pakistan tennis great Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi on Tuesday slammed the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) decision to move the Davis Cup tie between India and Pakistan, which was to be held in Islamabad, to a neutral location.
The 39-year-old, who reached the final of the US Open men's doubles event with India's Rohan Bopanna in 2010, said that the "disgraceful" move was discriminatory against the country.
"A really shocking, embarrassing, disgraceful, sad and unfair decision by @ITF_Tennis to hold this @DavisCup tie on a neutral venue.Once again #Pakistan is getting penalised for someone else's actions. To me it's an absolute discrimination at every level (sic.)," Qureshi tweeted.
The ITF said on Monday that it had decided to move the tie to a neutral venue following the latest advice from its independent security advisors.
"The ITF and Davis Cup Committee's first priority has always been the safety of athletes, officials and spectators and the decision was made on this basis," it said.
The tie was earlier supposed to be held on September 14-15 but the ITF said that it will now be held on November 29-30. Being the hosts, Pakistan have the choice to nominate the venue.
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