On backfoot, AITA comes up with lame defence

LONDON: The All India Tennis Association's response to Sania Mirza's press statement in which she came down hard on AITA is disappointing, to say the least.
After announcing on June 15th that the selection committee would wait until the end of Wimbledon after watching how the reigning French Open champions — Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania — fared at the All England Club before deciding on the mixed team for the Olympics, AITA did a flip-flop act less than a week later, pairing Sania with Leander Paes.
Not only did the tennis federation's esteemed selection committee completely ignore Sania, refusing to consult with her on her choice/preference of partner when they did it with all their three men's players — Paes, Mahesh and Rohan Bopanna — they've not given her the due respect even after she put down her feelings in black and white.
The best response the parent body could come up with was: 'AITA had duly congratulated Sania's mother on her victory in the French Open (with Bhupathi on June 7th)'.
Did Nasima Mirza, Sani's mother, win the French Open for her daughter? And while they were at it, did the AITA also congratulate Bhupathi's father? Is the Federation so out of touch with its players that it doesn't know where they can be reached when they win a major title?
Why did a selection committee that wanted to wait till after Wimbledon make a hurried call to pair Sania and Paes? Did the reasons have anything to do with tennis or were the decisions made to appease a sulking superstar?
Interestingly, AITA didn't waste any time in patting itself on the back. Their press statement on Wednesday noted: "AITA's goodwill with the ITF has also some role to play in this wonderful achievement (read the two wildcard for the Olympics)". In a communication to the TOI, the ITF's communications department wrote that the criteria for wildcards included, "world rankings, regional representation and in the case of the doubles, the maximum quota of athletes allowed on site."
Maybe it slipped their minds, but the ITF didn't mention goodwill.
Bhupathi came to his partner's defence, saying, "I feel for Sania completely. She wasn't consulted or taken into confidence. It's an unfortunate situation."