The Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) disciplinary committee has recommended a life ban, or a suspension for a period of time, on doubles specialist Jwala Gutta, according to well-placed sources on Saturday, says a report in Hindustan Times.
Jwala had tried to stop players from her franchise, the Delhi Smashers, from playing their tie against Banga Beats during the Indian Badminton League (IBL) in August. The Smashers had threatened to pull out over Banga Beats’ last-minute replacement of Hu Yun with Jan O Jorgensen. Jwala was served a 14-day showcause notice by BAI for her conduct during the tie, which was delayed by half an hour. “The recommendation has been circulated to the member associations but no decision has been taken as of now. It has not been implemented,” said a BAI official.
According to a report in The DNA, can be pardoned if she gives an unconditional apology to BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta. "We have recommended a life ban on Jwala for her role in the Krrish Delhi Smashers vs Banga Beats tie. Nowehere in Jwala's reply which she sent to us, is she apologetic for her conduct. So we recommended the ban," BAI's disciplinary committee chairman S. Muralidharan.
"However, if she offers an unconditional apology to the president, then she can be pardoned. It is upon the discretion of the president to decide now," Muralidharan, also a BAI vice-president, added.
According to a report in The Times of India, match referee Girish Natu blamed it on Jwala and in his report accused the World Cup bronze medal winner of resorting to long, and at times offensive, arguments with the governing council members. Even the broadcasters threatened to pull out of the league as their schedule went haywire.
On the basis of Natu's report, BAI issued a show cause notice to Jwala in the first week of September and gave her 14 days time to reply. TOI had reported on September 26 that Jwala was facing severe action as she did not show any remorse in her reply to BAI. In fact, she blamed the IBL governing council for the delay.
When contacted, Akhilesh Das told TOI that the committee has taken a serious view of Jwala's behaviour and recommended serious action. "What she did was unacceptable. Her action could have finished IBL forever. She brought so much disrepute to the game and BAI," he said, adding that Jwala expressed no regret for her actions.
"In her explanation to the show cause, she blamed IBL and BAI for the whole episode. It is time we took some serious action. But I still want to give her one last chance. I will wait for seven more days. If she makes an unconditional apology we will consider her case," he added.
