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What's the story?
A North West Delhi court has named tennis star Maria Sharapova as a party to a complaint by a homebuyer. The homebuyer invested in a luxury housing project in Gurgaon that was endorsed by and named after the Russian and for which construction never took off.
The court has named Sharapova in the complaint list and has ordered an FIR against her and the companies Homestead Infrastructure Development Private Limited, Homestead Infrastructure Maintenance Private Limited and Homestead Arabic Homes Private and its directors.
In case you didn't know
The Russian is not the only superstar in such a fix. Last year, homebuyers of Amrapali had trolled cricketer MS Dhoni on Twitter for the delays in the completion of the housing project and forced him to quit as the brand ambassador of the Amrapali group.
The heart of the matter
Homebuyer Bhawana Agarwal filed a complaint in the Delhi court and said that she was shown that Maria Sharapova had endorsed the residential flats. The brochure of the respondent company shows the proposed tennis academy in the project and commercial space for clothing and sportswear as well.
“The project was to be completed within three years from the first payment in the year 2013, however, the respondent has failed to start any construction or development work even after three years from the date of the booking ie 12th April 2013,” the complaint states.
What's Next?
Sharapova had agreed to have a tennis academy in her name at the proposed project and her role, extent of involvement in the matter and ramifications remain to be seen.
Sportskeeda's Take
Sharapova has already courted controversy after she was found guilty of doping in the Meldonium saga. As a result of the former, she was handed a 10-month ban. Being sucked into this scam would further damage her reputation.
