CHENNAI: In a big setback to the Indian wrestling contingent scheduled to compete at the U23 World Championships, the US Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday refused visas to nine out of 16 wrestlers, who had appeared for visa interviews. It was learnt that eight of them were 20 year of age or below and one could not furnish details of her salary as she was employed by the Indian Railways only a month or two ago.
As many as 30 wrestlers are selected to compete in the tournament scheduled in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18. On Wednesday, 16 wrestlers and eight support staff went to the Embassy for the visa interviews. The remaining wrestlers and support staff are expected to appear for interviews on Thursday.
TNIE highlighted the issue in its Tuesday's edition. Notably, this is not the first instance as the U20 wrestlers from the country faced similar issues before heading to Bratislava, Slovakia for the U20 World Championships. Besides, the Indian athletes from other disciplines too found it difficult to procure visas, especially for Schengen countries.
"All these wrestlers are competing in the age group tournament, so most of them are 20 or below. Also most of them have not been employed yet as they are focusing more on their game at the moment. The refusal is disappointing and we have mailed the Embassy and copied it to our US counterpart," an official from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) told TNIE.
An eyewitness said that the officials at the Embassy asked wrestlers, who are 20-year-old or below, to form a separate queue and then refused them the visas citing their respective age and employment status. In case of a woman wrestler, who is above 20, the officials sought her salary and bank details but she could not provide the requisite information. She was also refused the visa. "The woman wrestler in question was hired by the Railways only a couple of months ago. She was asked to furnish salary details and bank statements. She couldn't do it, so she was not given the visa," added the WFI official.
The WFI in the mail also expressed its concerns about the remaining wrestlers, who are scheduled to appear for visa interviews on Thursday. "The upcoming championships is being conducted for the U23 age group. Given the situation, most of the participants are aged between 18 and 12. Most of them are also not formally employed as they are in the nascent stage of their sporting careers. In the past as well, our age group wrestlers had competed in various international tournaments. A few of the participants are even medallists from such marquee events. How can they deny visas on the ground of age and employment?" lamented the official.
Notably, ahead of the event in Slovakia, official sources confirmed to the WFI that human trafficking was the reason for delay in processing of visas for the Indian wrestlers. The fresh development has only raised the concerns of the authorities concerned as it could lead to visa refusal to the Indian athletes from other host countries on grounds of their age and employment status.