The United World Wrestling has sent a strong warning to the Wrestling Federation of India over the visa issues for the Pakistani and the Chinese contingents, who are scheduled to participate in the Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi from February 18 to 23.
UWW has reportedly warned the WFI that if visas were not provided to all the participating for the Asian Championship in New Delhi, India may be barred from the Asian Olympic qualifier.
With less than two weeks for the Asian Championship to start, there is no certainty over visas to the Pak and Chinese squads. Albeit for different reasons. While the Indian High Commission in Pakistan was not entertaining the visa applications allegedly submitted late by the wrestling governing body in the country, the Chinese federation is facing uncertainty for visas as the eVisa facility has been temporarily suspended in the wake of the Coronavirus.
As per UWW bidding rules, it is mandatory for the hosts to ensure all participating countries get visas for a tournament.
“Visa permission has been granted to the Chinese team by the Wrestling Federation of India and a letter has also been written to the health ministry, as it is the duty of the organizer to arrange visas for the participating countries. Also, the Chinese team has confirmed that all their players are healthy and not affected by the Coronavirus. But the WFI is not aware of the procedure that the Airport Authority will follow to test the team members,” WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar told WrestlingTV.in.
With regards to granting visas for Pakistani grapplers, Tomar said, “ Visa permission has been granted to the Pakistan team by WFI and a letter has also been written to the concerned authorities in India. Pakistan has requested for the visa for a 5-member squad and hopefully, they will get it.”
The WFI had earlier said that it has forwarded all documents and passport details of Chinese grapplers to the Ministry of External Affairs. “We have done our work. Now it completely depends on the Government. We would definitely want Chinese wrestlers to take part in the event. We will get a clear picture only after few days,” media reports earlier had quoted WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as saying.
The WFI had on Monday approached the sports and external affairs ministries to facilitate visas to the Pakistan and China teams.
Sports Ministry has however said that that can’t do much in the matter. “We will follow whatever is decided by Health and External Affairs Ministries. The Sports Ministry has no role in it,” Sports Secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya has told national daily Hindustan Times.
An Indian government official familiar with the development has reportedly said that there is no blanket ban on Chinese nationals travelling to India, but that visas given before the start of the outbreak and e-visas will not be valid. “Athletes or officials will have to apply for fresh visas,” the anonymous official has reportedly said.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad hasn’t cleared the application of the six-member Pak squad, including four wrestlers. The Pakistan Wrestling Federation has written to the UWW and complained of not getting visas. “If we don’t follow the UWW protocol then our team could also face problems in future,” Tomar said.
In February 2019, the International Olympic Committee had advised all international sports federations to not considering applications from the Indian sports governing bodies for hosting any international events after two Pakistani shooters were denied visas to participate in the ISSF World Championship in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the UWW has also written to the Bulgarian federation to ensure visas to the Chinese athletes for the World Olympic qualifiers, to be held in Sofia from April 30 to May 3.
