CHENNAI: The 2026 Asian Games will officially begin in Nagoya, Japan on September 19. With only a few days remaining in the Opening Ceremony, more than half-a-dozen track and field athletes from India, a few coaches and officials from National Sports Federations (NSFs) have yet not received visas to travel to Japan and be part of the quadrennial event.
The delay hit the track and field athletes hard as they are supposed to join their compatriots as soon as possible for a preparatory camp at University of Tsukuba apart from getting acclimated to local weather and time zone. These athletes are late additions to the Asian Games list, which eventually led to delay in preparations of their accreditation cards. The list of athletes affected by visa hurdle includes high jumper Supriya B, pole vaulter Sindhushree G, hammer thrower Praveen Kumar, 200m sprinter Harita Bhadra, quarter-miler Kiran Pahal, heptathlete Anamika KA and triple jumper Asha Ilango.
Besides, a track and field coach is also facing the visa issue at the moment. There is also a foreign coach from another discipline — wrestling — who is facing the issue. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) named three foreign coaches in its contingent — Georgia’s Emzarios Shako Bentinidis (men’s freestyle coach), Japan’s Kosei Akaishi (women wrestling) and Gogi Koguashvili (men’s Greco-Roman). While the Japanese coach doesn't need a visa, Shako holds a passport from a European country and is unlikely to face the issue. Koguashvili, a former Russian wrestler of Georgian descent, may be hit by visa trouble.
A top WFI official will also visit Japan. "We have to apply for the visa of Gogi Koguashvili. We have requested a letter from the Indian Olympic Association for it. The same is the case with the official," a source in the know of things told this daily. There are a few other officials from different NSFs, who face the similar situation like the WFI official. They too are awaiting their visas and that's where the problem begins.
"The Japanese Embassy wants a letter from the organising committee apart from the IOA's letter. The IOA letter is not an issue but obtaining a letter from the organising committee is a big task, especially with the Opening Ceremony only a few days away," said another source.
The wrestling event starts at the fag end of the continental meet, which in turn gives the WFI enough time to get the process completed but for track and field athletes, it will be a setback if they don't get the visas as early as possible. Earlier, failed dope tests and fitness issues had forced quite a few athletes to withdraw from the Games, hurting India's medal chances in the event. The latest in the list of setbacks is the visa trouble.
