BAI to probe Jwala's role in Delhi-Beats imbroglio

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) will investigate doubles player Jwala Gutta’s alleged role in provoking some players of her IBL side Krrish Delhi Smashers to not play a match against Banga Beats.

A controversy had erupted during the August 25 tie when Delhi smashers had threatened to pull out of the tie over the issue of player replacement.

The Smashers were upset that the IBL governing council had allowed Beats to replace their injured singles player, Hong Kong’s Hu Yun with Denmark’s Jan Jorgensen at the last minute.

Beats then left out Jorgensen and played Arvind Bhat, who was already part of the team.S Muralidharan, chairman of BAI’s disciplinary committee, had said that Gutta had stopped some players from playing that tie.

At its Special General Body and the Executive Council meeting held in Mumbai on August 31, BAI asked its disciplinary committee to investigate the issue.

Gutta has already been served a show-cause notice.

“BAI’s disciplinary committee headed by S Muralitharan has been asked to investigate Jwala Gutta’s conduct during the Indian Badminton League. She has been served a show-cause notice and has been asked to explain her conduct during the incident. She will have to respond to the notice within 14 days,” a BAI spokesperson said.

The IBL governing council has also been asked to appoint a retired High Court judge to investigate the incident involving the two sides. “The governing council will meet in the next few days to finalize the appointment,” the spokesperson added.