Asian Wrestling Championship: Pakistan granted visa, China denied


Asian Wrestling Championship: Pakistan granted visa, China denied

WhatsApp Image 2020 02 17 at 12.59.24

China will not be able to participate in Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi after Ministry of Home Affairs has denied visa to Chinese contingent in wake of Coronavirus threat.

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The authorities have denied issuing travel documents to China despite the neighbouring nation’s assurance that all its wrestlers and accompanying delegates have been tested and quarantined, confirmed that they are all free from the Coronavirus.

“The issues involving China is serious because the Coronavirus outbreak has become a global threat,” said Wrestling Federation of India’s assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.

The uncertainty of China’s participation was looming since the Indian government had earlier canceled all e-visas for the Chinese nationals due to the virus outbreak which has killed over 1500 people till date.

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However after weeks of uncertainty, Indian government issued visas to Pakistani wrestlers on Saturday. This comes after United World Wrestling issued a strict warning to the Wrestling Federation of India that visas should be given to all participating nations otherwise India will be barred from participating in Asian Olympics Qualifiers scheduled in March.

Reportedly, the visas of the Pakistani athletes were cleared after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Ministry of Sports and Youth swung into action. The two bodies managed to convince the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that denying visas to the Pakistani team would attract strong sanctions from the International Olympic Committee.

Pakistan also showed its frustration over the issue and had even threatened to withdraw from the Asian event if they did not receive the visas by February 15.

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