Tennis dispute heads to court
A controversial decision by Tennis Jamaica to not have trials this year to select a national team for an international competition is being challenged in court.
Noted attorney Lord Anthony Gifford on Friday filed a suit in the Supreme Court on behalf of his client, John Azar Jr, the island’s 12 and Under champion who has been affected by the decision.
Lord Gifford had previously written to Tennis Jamaica asking the organisation to explain the basis on which his client was excluded from the qualifying round for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Masters event scheduled for Mexico.
The attorney had also demanded that trials be held to select the team in accordance with Tennis Jamaica’s stated position and precedence, or that the team be selected based on the national rankings as outlined in the association’s selection criteria document.
The dispute arose after Azar Jr was allegedly not formally notified of the qualifiers held in St Lucia in July this year. However, his father John Azar, said the youngster felt confident of making the team, given the usual practice of trials being held after the qualification round.
However, after the St Lucia qualifications, the Tennis Jamaica board is reported to have decided that there would be no trials and that the players who went to St Lucia would make up the team to the Masters event.
This was followed by an exchange of arguments and counter arguments about the credibility of the decision between the elder Azar and Tennis Jamaica which eventually resulted in the court action.
The matter, the Jamaica Observer was told, will be heard next Wednesday.