It takes a lot to get beneath the skin of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) - an organisation that tends to be beaten up for its undemonstrative ways by bolder, brasher boys in the tennis playground. But something said by one of the leading figures of the sport in Britain this week got its goat to the extent that it chose to come out and speak its mind as it has rarely done before.

What incensed the ITF were comments by Roger Draper, the chief executive of the LTA, who, when asked to discuss Great Britain's defeat by Argentina in the Davis Cup this month, was moved to say: “We have enough problems sorting out British tennis without worrying about world tennis, but I think it would be good to get it sorted out. My personal view is that it would be fantastic if we could make the Davis Cup like the [football] World Cup, and stage it every two or four years at a single venue and make it a really big festival.”

It is not that Draper was saying anything particularly earth-shattering, for there are many siren voices who insist on “modernising” a 108-year-old championship, but that Britain, as one of the four pillar nations that profit in millions from staging a grand-slam tournament, ought not to lecture on the business of tennis's umbrella organisation, whose remit is to spread the sport's message and the largesse it generates to as many corners of the globe as it can.

“I don't know whether it was a smokescreen to divert attention from the result of the tie in Argentina, but when executives of national associations criticise a competition like the Davis Cup, they should do it in the proper forums,” Juan Margets, executive vice-president of the ITF and chairman of the Davis Cup committee, said.

“Politics happens every day, of course, but there is a code for this kind of debate, especially when it is from one of the very privileged nations who have ownership of one of the biggest events in tennis. We know that the future of Davis Cup is very important but the feelings that have been expressed are not, unless I have missed something, those shared by Wimbledon.”

This rap across the knuckles for Draper follows months of patient negotiation between the ITF and the ATP, the governing body of men's tennis, over the prospective reshaping of the Davis Cup in terms of where its dates should be placed in a horribly congested calendar and whether ranking points should be granted to participants, the first time that such a radical step would be taken.

In the midst of this, there have been suggestions that it might be presented in a new format altogether, as an event that has blocks of qualifying matches for a grand finale that would occupy a month at the end of every year, two years or four years.

The ITF is sitting back and waiting for a thorough proposal, both costed and backed with sponsorship and television support, which would make such a plan viable from both a financial and performance perspective. It has been a long, fruitless wait.

It points out that the home and away element of the competition is what sustains its viability, especially for those national associations far less well off than the LTA. As Margets, a Spaniard, said: “Over 500,000 people attend Davis Cup ties every year and from our experience, these are not the typical people who might be seen or want to be seen at a regular tour event. And this is the only event where people from a lot of different nations would ever see high-calibre tennis in the flesh.”

As with any individual sport, the desire to play for your country is a deeply personal decision. Roger Federer, a 12-time grand-slam champion, has chosen to miss those ties involving Switzerland earlier in the year, stepping back into the competition in the autumn to help to preserve their world group status. Andy Murray's decision to miss the recent tie in Argentina, citing an injury and the need to enhance his ranking, inspired intense debate.

From next year, at the players' behest, ranking points will be on offer for the Davis Cup and the dates being offered - the week before the Indian Wells tournament next March, the week after Wimbledon, and the week after the US Open - are precisely what the players wanted. Margets does not carry his entire committee with him on the ranking points issue, but believes that its merit outweighs any negative arguments.