JOIN USTA said it cited the theft of the security plan as one of the three reasons for backing out of the tie scheduled in May in Chennai last year.
“Tennis Australia commissioned two security firms to assess the risk of its players competing in the tie in Chennai and cited the stolen plans as justification for its decision to withdraw from the tournament,” the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ reported.
The Tennis Australia report does not specify who stole the security blueprints for the Games but the newspaper quoted a source as saying that, “It forced the organisers to rejig the whole security plans for the Games.”
TA President Geoff Pollard said the other factors that contributed to the decision included the general elections in India and the “escalated activity by Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka”.
The ITF had fined Australia only $10,000 for forfeiting the tie.