MUMBAI: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday lifted its bar on India hosting international sporting events after the Union government tendered an unconditional guarantee to athletes from all nations to participate in sporting events in the country.
The IOC executive board (EB), which ended its meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday, issued the following statement on the matter: “The IOC has been given written guarantees by the Indian government ensuring the entry of all participants to sports and Olympic-related events in the country in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter.
“Upon receipt of the guarantees, the EB decided to lift the suspension of discussions with the Indian NOC and government regarding potential applications for such events, and of the recommendation to the IFs (international federations) not to award nor hold sports events in India.”
IOC’s director of Olympic Solidarity and NOC Relations, James Macleod, confirmed the decision in a separate email sent to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra: “The IOC executive board has examined the situation at its meeting today (Thursday) and understands that, with this letter, the principle of non-discrimination of athletes and teams participating in future international sports events in India will be fully respected, so that all eligible athletes and sporting delegations, as determined by the international sports organisations concerned, will be allowed to enter the country and participate in any such international sports events irrespective of their country of origin.”
The IOC had, recently, put India’s prospective bids for all big-ticket events on hold for refusing visas to two Pakistani shooters. In November last year, India were let off with a warning for not issuing a visa to a woman boxer from Kosovo (India does not recognise the Balkan country).
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