CHENNAI: The Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) has threatened to withdraw from the Asian Championships scheduled in New Delhi if its athletes are not given visas by February 15.
The competition is slated from February 18 to 23. Teams from various participating nations will start arriving on February 16. The United World Wrestling’s (UWW’s) Asian Council on Wednesday wrote a mail to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), asking the latter to ensure that wrestlers from Pakistan and China get visas for the event.
“The PWF mailed to the WFI enquiring about the visa status of its wrestlers. A copy of the mail has been forwarded to the world body. The Indian federation has been asked to issue visas by February 15. Otherwise, entries of Pakistani wrestlers would be withdrawn,” a PWF official told this daily.
Earlier, the National Olympic Committee of Pakistan had written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the UWW apprising them of the situation after the Indian High Commission in Islamabad refused to accept passports and visa applications of Pakistani wrestlers. The UWW, in turn, instructed the Indian federation to help its Pakistani counterpart in procuring visas.
The High Commission eventually accepted Pakistani wrestlers’ documents last week after clearance from the ministry of external affairs. Speaking on the issue, a WFI official had told this daily then that they are still awaiting a nod from the home ministry and once it is done, visas will be issued to Pakistani wrestlers.
“We tried speaking to the WFI but to no avail. It also didn’t respond to our mail, leaving us with no option than giving a deadline. The uncertainty has started affecting our wrestlers,” added the PWF official.
The WFI admitted that the Asian Council president Daulet Turlykhanov has sent a mail asking it to ensure that Pakistani and Chinese wrestlers get visas.
“We received a mail from the Asian Council president. We are trying our best and are in touch with the authorities. We don’t know what’s causing the delay, as we’ve forwarded the requisite documents from both the teams for processing,” a WFI official said.
While political tension has prevented India and Pakistan from hosting each other for any sports event, outbreak of the coronavirus has created doubt over Chinese wrestlers. Four grapplers and two officials from Pakistan are scheduled to arrive for the event. China had sent a 40-member list including 30 wrestlers to the WFI. The Chinese federation has claimed that none of its wrestlers have tested positive for the virus.