British No 2 Aljaz Bedene awaits Davis Cup decision from ITF
Friday 18 March 2016 17:09, UK
Aljaz Bedene will hope to be given clearance to play for Great Britain in the Davis Cup when he presents his case to the International Tennis Federation board on Sunday.
The 26-year-old British No 2 is unable to attend the appeal hearing in Moldova because he is playing tournaments in the United States but will take part via Skype.
The Lawn Tennis Association has supported Bedene throughout the process and lawyer Stephen Farrow is travelling to Moldova.
Bedene became a British citizen last March but has fallen foul of a rule brought in at the start of 2015 preventing players competing for more than one country in the competition.
Because he played in three dead rubbers for his native Slovenia between 2010 and 2012, he is currently ineligible to represent Britain.
Bedene, who has lived in Hertfordshire since 2008, began the process of switching nationality prior to the rule change but the ITF rejected his claim last May.
An appeal was due to be heard at an ITF board meeting in November but a decision was deferred until the next board meeting this weekend.
It was a highly unsatisfactory episode, with Bedene and Farrow travelling to Prague to present their case unaware it would not be fully addressed.
Should Bedene win the appeal, he would come into contention for July's quarter-final against Serbia.
