Australia's boycott of next month's tie against India in Chennai for security concerns is likely to spell the end of Lleyton Hewitt's stellar Davis Cup career.
Lleyton Hewitt in action against Thailand's Danai Udomchoke during their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group One Second round match in Bangkok in March.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) rejected Australia's request for a neutral venue for the May 8-10 tie and insisted it go ahead in Chennai - a decision Tennis Australia (TA) boss Geoff Pollard slammed as "irresponsible."
The stand-off may well mean that Hewitt never plays for his country again after winning more Davis Cup singles matches than any other Australian.
"It could easily happen. He will consider his response but this could spell the end of his Cup career which would be disappointing," his manager David Drysdale said.
Pollard said it was unreasonable to expect the Australian team to travel to India in the midst of elections which had created an unstable situation with several people killed.
He said the ITF and India had refused to meet the security requirements TA demanded for the team to travel to India.
Australia must now wait to see what penalty it will be given for pulling out of the match with sanctions ranging from fines to a one-year suspension.
The Davis Cup website specifies that if a country pulls out of a tie it will be suspended from the competition for the following year.
Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald was furious with the ITF's stance.
"Surely some thought must be given to the players' safety," Fitzgerald said.
"I believe they say the election is not a cause for concern, the Indian Premier League moving (to South Africa) is not relevant and that an ATP tournament held in January shows it is safe to play in Chennai.
"So what about the fact that dozens of people are being killed along the campaign trail of the election?
"A train was hijacked this week, but that does not alter their thoughts? Did the IPL move for no reason?" Fitzgerald asked.
"The ATP event involved no international teams and was held three months prior to the election.
"This decision makes no sense. We have worked so hard to get back into the World Group contention, to have it snatched away like this is gut wrenching."
Pollard said there was no question of the team going under the circumstances.
"Let me say that it is disappointing but it would be irresponsible of us our team and our support staff to go to India during the election period," Pollard said.
"Australia is probably the greatest supporter of Davis Cup so it is difficult but the safety of our team is paramount.
"We gave the ITF and therefore the Indians a list of the security requirements that we had for our team to be there and they will not meet those security requirements."
Pollard said the demands for team security were "reasonably close to what you would give to a head of state and (we) feel that was appropriate in the circumstances."
"They were providing security but nothing like the level we asked for," he said.
Pollard said it would be unreasonable for the ITF to suspend Australia for 2010 or to demote the country to Zone Four.
"I would expect something a lot, lot less than that because it is an unacceptable risk," Pollard said.
"I don't think any sanction is appropriate because we have given them a lot of evidence that the risk is unacceptable - but that's up to them."
Pollard said the ITF had a report from one consulting company which told them the security concerns "could be dismissed."
Pollard said it would take "some time" before the sanction was known.
TA had called for a neutral venue for the tie but the ITF said on Friday they were satisfied with the security conditions in Chennai.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) rejected Australia's request for a neutral venue for the May 8-10 tie and insisted it go ahead in Chennai - a decision Tennis Australia (TA) boss Geoff Pollard slammed as "irresponsible."
The stand-off may well mean that Hewitt never plays for his country again after winning more Davis Cup singles matches than any other Australian.
"It could easily happen. He will consider his response but this could spell the end of his Cup career which would be disappointing," his manager David Drysdale said.
Pollard said it was unreasonable to expect the Australian team to travel to India in the midst of elections which had created an unstable situation with several people killed.
He said the ITF and India had refused to meet the security requirements TA demanded for the team to travel to India.
Australia must now wait to see what penalty it will be given for pulling out of the match with sanctions ranging from fines to a one-year suspension.
The Davis Cup website specifies that if a country pulls out of a tie it will be suspended from the competition for the following year.
Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald was furious with the ITF's stance.
"Surely some thought must be given to the players' safety," Fitzgerald said.
"I believe they say the election is not a cause for concern, the Indian Premier League moving (to South Africa) is not relevant and that an ATP tournament held in January shows it is safe to play in Chennai.
"So what about the fact that dozens of people are being killed along the campaign trail of the election?
"A train was hijacked this week, but that does not alter their thoughts? Did the IPL move for no reason?" Fitzgerald asked.
"The ATP event involved no international teams and was held three months prior to the election.
"This decision makes no sense. We have worked so hard to get back into the World Group contention, to have it snatched away like this is gut wrenching."
Pollard said there was no question of the team going under the circumstances.
"Let me say that it is disappointing but it would be irresponsible of us our team and our support staff to go to India during the election period," Pollard said.
"Australia is probably the greatest supporter of Davis Cup so it is difficult but the safety of our team is paramount.
"We gave the ITF and therefore the Indians a list of the security requirements that we had for our team to be there and they will not meet those security requirements."
Pollard said the demands for team security were "reasonably close to what you would give to a head of state and (we) feel that was appropriate in the circumstances."
"They were providing security but nothing like the level we asked for," he said.
Pollard said it would be unreasonable for the ITF to suspend Australia for 2010 or to demote the country to Zone Four.
"I would expect something a lot, lot less than that because it is an unacceptable risk," Pollard said.
"I don't think any sanction is appropriate because we have given them a lot of evidence that the risk is unacceptable - but that's up to them."
Pollard said the ITF had a report from one consulting company which told them the security concerns "could be dismissed."
Pollard said it would take "some time" before the sanction was known.
TA had called for a neutral venue for the tie but the ITF said on Friday they were satisfied with the security conditions in Chennai.
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