CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: The future of India as a host nation of international sports events had come under scanner following the denial of visas to the Pakistani contingent at last month’s shooting World Cup in New Delhi. On Sunday, it emerged that the world wrestling body (UWW) has shifted the Asian junior championship to Thailand.
India had agreed to host the re-scheduled championship in July after original hosts Lebanon withdrew. But there were apprehensions following a UWW letter to its affiliated national federations, asking them to suspend all communication with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Broadly speaking, the International Olympic Council’s guidelines state that a country can’t deny permission to participants from other countries if it has to host a major international event. In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, India had not issued visas to a three-member shooting contingent from Pakistan for the World Cup.
“UWW has told that it has shifted the junior Asian championship from India to Thailand. We had not bid for this event and we chipped in just to oblige UWW-Asia, but we will certainly encounter problems when we want to host major tournaments next year,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said. “The government will have to do something about it. But it’s unlikely that something can be done before the general elections.”
The WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who had said earlier that he would hold talks with the ministry in this regards, also feels it can be discussed only after the elections. “Everybody is busy with election preparations,” said Singh.
Indian squad for Asian senior championship
Free style: Men: Ravi Kumar (57kg), Rahul Aware (61kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Rajneesh (70kg), Amit Dhankar (74kg), Praveen Rana (79kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Viky (92kg), Satyavrat Kadian (97kg), Sumit (125kg).
Women: Seema (50kg), Vinesh (53kg), Lalita Sehrawat (55kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg), Manju (59kg), Sakshi Malik (62kg), Navjot Kaur (65kg), Divya Kakran (68kg), Kiran (72kg), Pooja (76kg).
Greco Roman: Manjeet (55kg), Gyanender (60kg), Vikram Kumar (63kg), Ravinder (67kg), Yogesh (72kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Harpreet Singh (82kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Hardeep Singh (97kg), Prem Kumar (130kg).