Azhar's plea rejected, BAI election on schedule

New Delhi/Chennai: Former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin's bid to unseat Badminton Association of India's long-standing President VK Verma received a setback on Friday after an Andhra Pradesh court refused to give a stay order on BAI's election in Chennai on Sunday.

The Azharuddin camp had approached the sessions court in Andhra Pradesh's Rangareddy district seeking a stay on the election but their plea was rejected after three hours' argument.

A jubilant Verma hailed the court order and said it has cleared the deck for his "unanimous election" on Sunday.

"The Azharuddin-camp saw the writing on the wall and sought this stay order as a last-minute gamble. We had already taken a caveat not only in Andhra Pradesh but also in Chennai and we are happy with the verdict.

"All the delegates coming from across the country for Sunday's election are elated and set to elect me unanimously again," Verma told PTI.

Earlier talking to reporters in Chennai, the BAI President said his victory was mere a formality even though Azhar was welcome to contest the election.

This was a change in stance of the BAI President, who initially had questioned Azhar's eligibility to contest the election since the former cricketer was not member of any state unit and was also fighting a life-ban on match-fixing charges.

"Azharuddin is welcome to contest or for that matter, anyone. The BAI Constitution provides for persons other than those from the affiliated units to contest for the posts of president and secretary," said Verma, who has been at BAI's helm for 12 years.

He said he had the backing of nearly all of the 34 voting units and that his victory was inevitable.

The BAI President stuck to his decision to seek a re-election even though it is in violation of the recent Sports Ministry regulation that fixed the term of federation presidents to 12 years at the most.

"The government guidelines come into play if you are seeking its financial assistance from it," Verma said, claiming BAI had now become self-sufficient.

"We have signed contracts with various sponsors to generate Rs four crore annually. So, we will not be requiring any financial assistance from the government," he said.