NEW DELHI: Despite sports ministry clearing grounds for Pakistan athletes to take part in events in India, the neighbouring country will not be part of the Commonwealth table tennis championships to be held in Cuttack from July 17. This is the first meet after the ministry had last month reaffirmed its stance that qualified athletes from all recognised countries would be allowed to participate, regardless of political issues.
Going by the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) president’s words, the reason for Pakistan paddlers is not participating is non-political.
“We had expressed interest and the Indian TT federation had also reciprocated the same,” said PTTF president SM Sibtain.
“There was no interference from the Pakistan government and we anticipated no issue with regards to procuring visas from the Indian High Commission. However, financial constraints have put a dent in those plans.” PTTF was one of the first to send in its entries: three male paddlers, a coach and an official.
Even Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary MP Singh corroborated the interest PTTF had shown in participating in the event.
“We received their entries on June 24. As per procedure, we forwarded the same to the Sports Ministry, Ministry of External Affairs as well as Home Ministry. If cleared, they will be free to start their visa process.”
Since this is a sensitive issue, Pakistan also need a nod from all the mentioned departments.
According to rules, stay and hospitality are the responsibilities of the host organisation. But the Indian body is not aware of the PTTF development.
“We have not heard anything about a pull-out. Hospitality and stay will be taken care by us. Only travel and other related costs are borne by the federation or government,” an official said.
According to a TTFI official, there is no deadline for Pakistan. Once entries are accepted, names are included in the draw that takes place a day before the start of the tournament. Due to tensions after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan shooters were denied visas in February, Indian Olympic Association was pulled up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, one of the first decisions taken by the new sports minister was to send a letter assuring all athletes, irrespective of their origin, participation in India.
Deadline extended
After Uganda, Ghana and Guyana expressed their interest in taking part in the meet, TTFI extended deadline for submitting entries. Earlier, the online submission link was set to close on June 30.