January 23, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 13, 1429

NEW DELHI, Jan 22: India’s tennis chiefs on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into claims made by doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi that he was asked to throw a Davis Cup match in 1996.

The All-India Tennis Association (AITA), while saying that the Davis Cup was a clean tournament, decided to probe Bhupathi’s claims made during the ongoing Australian Open in Melbourne.

“The AITA is clear that the Davis Cup is absolutely clean and no such incident has ever been heard of before, or in recent past, in India,” an AITA statement said.

“The AITA president, Yashwant Sinha, has suggested that an inquiry be conducted.”AITA secretary general Anil Khanna said the matter assumed importance because Bhupathi was a veteran on the circuit.

“Since Bhupathi is a senior player, we have to look into these claims,” he said. “I am not sure what happened, therefore an inquiry will be initiated.”

Bhupathi, the winner of 10 Grand Slam titles in men’s and mixed doubles, was reported as saying he had been asked to throw a Davis Cup match earlier in his career.

“I have not been approached in the context of an ATP tournament,” the 33-year-old was quoted as saying on Monday.

“I was approached maybe 10, 12 years ago, in the context of Davis Cup in India.“I immediately changed my phone numbers and I never got that call again. It definitely freaked me out.”—AFP