SANIA Mirzas mother Naseema is among the five support staff who will be assisting the Indian tennis team at the Olympics. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) that has been grappling with criticism over its selection for the Games may have landed itself in yet another controversy,given that Naseema is the only one with no real expertise or specialisation in the field. Many see this as a move to appease Sania,who had written a harshly worded mail to the media after she was paired with Leander Paes in the mixed doubles at the Olympics. Though the support staff were selected a couple of days back,the AITA has kept the list under wraps. Besides Naseema,the others accompanying the team will be Indias regular Davis Cup non-playing captain S P Misra,Sanjay Singh (Paess trainer),Shayamal Vallabhjee (Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopannas training consultant) and Milos Galecic (Somdev Devvarmans physio). There also appears to be ambiguity over Sanias mothers role. She will be the womens team coach, Col Ranbir Chauhan,member of the AITA executive committee,told The Indian Express. Subsequently,he changed tack: She will be the team manager as she has been in past. She is of great help to the womens team because she has experience of going to these big tennis events. In the list that has gone to the Indian Olympic Association,Naseema and Mishra are named as mere officials. While the two of them,along with Somdevs trainer,will stay at the Olympics Village,the support staff for the mens doubles team will stay outside. Interestingly,those with more experience like present Davis Cup coach Nandan Bal and Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno were not considered for the job. Sanias father Imran said they didnt ask for Naseema to be included. The AITA has requested her to travel to London. She has been accompanying the Fed Cup teams and was there for Asian Games and the last Olympics at Beijing. She has a vast experience of how these events function because she is someone who has gone to about 10 Wimbledons and a total of 25 Grand Slams, Imran said. Though both the federation and Sanias family maintain Naseema has always been travelling in the capacity of the womens team manager,the fact is that she accompanies the team only when Sania is playing.
