This year’s Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group-III was held in the Iranian capital city of Tehran from April 9-13. The venue of this annual event this year was the Enghelab Sports Complex, in the North of Tehran, which spanned through a vast area comprising nearly 50 clay tennis courts. The visiting eight teams, including that of Sri Lanka, would have had a better time in Iran if the Rep. of Iran Tennis Federation hosted this event in a friendlier and more comfortable atmosphere.

In fairness to the Iranian Federation, the main Iranian tennis controlling body, looked to have found it difficult to organise an important tennis event of this magnitude in a grand way, so as to satisfy everyone involved, solely due to the lack of funds.

The Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) hosted the Davis Cup last July in Colombo and everyone believed that it was one of the grandest Davis Cup shows of the region.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) Match Referee Nitin Kannamwar lauded the Colombo event, at its closing ceremony, as one of the best-organised Davis Cup events. The credit of that fine work went to Vasantha Wijesekara who headed the Davis Cup organising committee last year, under the auspices of the SLTA President Janaka Bogollagama. Wijesekara was also holding the post of manager of the Sri Lanka Davis Cup team for the last four years.

The Iranian round this year didn’t have a sizeable opening ceremony nor did they have any type of closing ceremony as well. There were only two busses to shuttle the players from the venue and the hotel in a journey that took nearly half an hour for every trip. The hotel facilities were not up to acceptable standards as the Swiss-born Sri Lanka coach had to move away from his room as it didn’t meet with his basic requirements. There was no media desk though there were journalists, especially photographers, who covered the event for the Iran media during the entire tournament. The team managers were not given adequate internet facilities at the venue so that they could send the day-to-day results to their respective associations.

"It’s always difficult to organise a Davis Cup in this region only with the funds we receive from the ITF. The respective national associations have to find their own sponsors if they are willing to put up a good show," explained Wijesekara to "Sunday Island" witnessing the unsatisfactory experience his team was undergoing this year in the otherwise booming Iranian capital.

"That’s what we did last year (finding sponsors). Everybody was impressed with the way we organised the Davis Cup in Colombo. We had good opening and closing ceremonies as well. We gave awards to the best teams and presented every player of the eight participating countries a memento at the closing ceremony. We’ve not seen such things happening when other countries hosted the Davis Cup. The Iran round this year was an example,"

Five-star hotel accommodation, proper player transportation, media facilities, internet and communication facilities for the team managers, food and refreshments at the venue; all these aspects had been given a keen concern in last year’s Davis Cup when Wijesekara and co. organised it at the SLTA.

Treatment for foreigners –

The treatment received by the women who came with their teams to Iran was not a healthy one this year. It was very much known that every lady should follow a certain (strict) dress code in Iran. But it is unfair to expect complete outsiders abide by such hard and fast gender laws that are always practised in Iran.

At times, the Iranian authorities at the Enghelab Complex wanted foreign ladies too to be seated in the special women’s enclosures of the spectator areas. When they refused to move, the authorities went to the extent of nearly physically moving them from their seats. One who underwent such unsettling treatment was the mother of the top Pakistani player Aisam Qureshi. That was during the Pakistan versus Iran tie on April 12 (Sat).

Mother of Sri Lanka First Singles player Harshana Godamanna too underwent a similar situation when a security personnel at the venue requested (or demanded) she should move to the women-only spectator area when Sri Lanka played Iran on Thursday (10). She was allowed to stay only after complaining she was suffering from a knee injury.