CHENNAI/HANGZHOU: The denial of accreditation to three wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh for the Asian Games has led to a controversy a day before the Games. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur decided to not attend the Games. The Olympic Council of Asia said that they have taken up the issue. Randhir Singh, the acting president of the OCA, has taken up the issue.
According to Singh, they had a meeting with the organising committee and are discussing with the government as well. “It is under discussion with us as well. This is outside of what the government-to-government is happening. We are from the OCA side of it,” he said during a press conference.
However, Wei Jizhong, chairman of OCA’s ethics committee, claimed the “Indian athletes have been granted the visa to enter China.”
“These Indian athletes have already got the visa to enter China. China didn’t refuse any visa. The problem is according to Chinese govt regulations, we have the right to give them different kind of visas. We have an arrival visa, we have a paper visa, and we have a passport as visa,” Jizhong said.
“Unfortunately, these athletes didn’t accept this visa. I don’t think this is an OCA problem because China has an agreement to let all the athletes who have certified eligibility to come to compete in China.”
The Indian government has also lodged a strong protest with China over the issue, saying that New Delhi reserves the right to take “suitable measures” to safeguard its interests.
“As the host country, China welcomes athletes from all countries to the Games using legal identification. The Chinese government has never recognised so-called “Arunachal”. “The area of Zangnan is Chinese territory,” said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.