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The rupee’s depreciation is posing a challenge to the organisers of Aircel Chennai Open, South Asia’s premier ATP World Tour tennis event — it is likely to increase the cost of organising the event by 15-20 per cent.
From Rs 53 last year, the rupee has moved to around Rs 63 to the dollar this year. This translates into a 10 per cent increase in the prize money.
“This means we need to shell out more rupees to pay the prize money in dollars,” said C.B.N. Reddy, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).
The yearly budget for the event is around $2 million. Of this, the prize money alone takes up $450,000 this year, he said, adding: “We need to find more sponsors.”
While the association is going all out to trim costs, forex issues are quite off its ambit. And there is the issue of paying royalty to the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Reddy said.
“It was an unreasonable demand,” he pointed out. “We need to sort it out, but right now the focus is to successfully conduct Aircel Chennai Open. We will discuss the issue with AITA after the event.”
TNTA needs to pay a royalty of Rs 30 lakh, which is 10 per cent of the prize money. This, Reddy said, is a very high fee. An association that is doing a good job to promote tennis is being penalised, he added.
In 2014, TNTA will conduct 15 national and international tournaments.
This includes an ATP 250 points’ tournament and an ATP challenger of $50,000 prize money, which will cost the association around Rs 1 crore. Also on the agenda are Adidas Under-14 and Under-18 tournaments, apart from others.
Reddy felt TNTA could find better uses for Rs 30 lakh. “We are not using the money for personal gains but to improve the game and in sending our players abroad to play tournaments,” he said.
“These clauses (paying royalty to AITA) were made 30-40 years ago and need to be revised,” he said.
Meanwhile, a PTI report said AITA will not waive royalty for Chennai Open unless TNTA proves that it is a loss-making venture. AITA also made it clear that constitutional provisions are binding on all members.
The coming tournament will mark the 19th edition of Chennai Open. From December 30 to January 5, the tournament will be held at Chennai’s SDAT Tennis Stadium. Defending champion Janko Tipsarevic, along with world number 8 Stanislas Wawrinka, Mikhail Younzhny (15) and Fabio Fognini (16) will compete in the 19th edition.
A total of 21 players from the draw released are ATP-ranked between 8 and 89. This is in addition to four qualifiers and three wild cards for the event.
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