The ITF issued a press release on Wednesday confirming the decision made on Aljaz Bedene. The board rejected Bedene’s appeal to be given a chance to play in Davis Cup for Great Britain. After becoming a British citizen in 2015, the former Slovenian made an official request the same year to represent Team GB in Davis Cup, but his request was rejected as Bedene had already played three rubbers for Slovenia in Davis Cup before deciding to become a British citizen.
Aljaz was hoping that his appeal could change things for him, having an official chance to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. High hopes didn’t meet with expectations as the internal board of the ITF communicated today a chance in the previous decision on the matter was not going to be made.
Here the formal statement made by the ITF today:
Appeal by the Lawn Tennis Association on behalf of Aljaz Bedene
The Board determined that the applicable version of the ITF Davis Cup Regulations for the appeal at hand were the 2015 version.
The Board considered all written and oral submissions made by the LTA, Aljaz Bedene, Tenis Slovenia and the original decision maker, the Davis Cup Committee, along with all evidence received before and during the hearing, all on a “de novo” basis.
In all the circumstances, the Board determined that an exception should not be made pursuant to Article 35(d) of the ITF Davis Cup Regulations.
Mr Bedene is not eligible to represent Great Britain in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.
Same faith was lived by Maxim Dubarenco, who was deemed not eligible to represent Belarus in Davis Cup. A different decision was instead taken for Daria Gavrilova who has been officially allowed to represent Australia in Fed Cup competition.
Russian Gavrilova has become an Australian citizen in 2016 and scored one of the best wins of her career representing Australia in Melbourne beating 2-time champion Petra Kvitova to reach the fourth round, to date her best result in a major.
