NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind in India since the novel coronavirus outbreak, an international sporting federation has asked member nations willing to bid for a competition to furnish details about the spread of the disease and the restrictions associated with travelling to the host country. This happened on Monday, when the Fencing Association of India (FAI) expressed interest in staging the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifiers and the Fencing Confederation of Asia (FCA) asked for a host of information regarding the status of COVID-19 in the country.
Whether they will give the green light will decided after the details are provided.The Asia-Oceania Olympic fencing qualifiers were to be held in Seoul, South Korea, from April 15. But the FCA had to relocate due to the prevailing conditions in South Korea. In the letter sent by the Asian body, details sought include disclosure of the current situation in the country, like the number of confirmed cases, deaths if any, cities affected, whether there are flight restrictions from any Asia/Oceania country and travel restrictions. The FCA Executive Board will evaluate the proposals received and submit its recommendation to the International Fencing Federation for approval.
The FAI president Rajeev Mehta told this daily that they are in the process of sending across the details. “We will send them by tonight. We are hopeful of getting the green light soon. After that, we will approach the government. We are confident of hosting the tournament and it will be a huge boost to the fencing community in our country.” The approval has to come fast, as the event has to be held within April, and other countries will have to apply for visas. The last week of April has been marked as the possible time. New Delhi will be the host. Sources have indicated that visas for nations who are in the race for qualification will not be an issue.
continental meet here?
Seoul was supposed to host the senior Asian Championship as well. It was scheduled after the qualifiers. The FCA informed all federations that since the results from this competition will have relevance to the ranking of the teams already qualified, it is being postponed. “Hopefully the health situation by June would be much improved and a decision could be made by early May on whether to proceed with it in Korea or transfer the competition to another country,” FCA president Celso L Dayrit said in a statement. The FAI has bid for that tournament as well in case the situation does not improve. According to their proposal, they want it at the end of June in New Delhi.