NEW DELHI: The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has expressed its dismay towards the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and Indian governing authorities for blocking the participation of Pakistani shooters for the World Cup in the city.
In a strongly-worded official release, the ISSF stated: “ISSF World Cup in New Delhi faces an urgent situation as Pakistani athletes cannot get entry visas to participate in the competition, due to the terrorist attacks happened last days in India. The ISSF and the Organising Committee of the competition are taking all efforts to solve the situation to avoid the discrimination of the Pakistani team. Besides that, the ISSF and the Organising Committee are discussing the possible consequences for India as a host country for future international competitions, in all sports.”
The ISSF is likely to take a call on India’s future in hosting global events alongside the International Olympic Committee (IOC), under whose charter the country’s latest violation falls.
India attracted IOC’s ire last year as well for denying a visa to a Kosovo boxer for the Women’s World Boxing Championships in the city since the Union government dos not recognise the European country.
ISSF general secretary Alexander Ratner is scrambling to find a solution to the issue and has sought a meeting with Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, while trying to appease a disgruntled Pakistani contingent.
The National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) on Wednesday wrote to the ISSF to drop the Tokyo Olympic quota places on offer in the 25m rapid fire pistol event from the New Delhi World Cup, starting on Saturday,
and instead transfer it to the Beijing World Cup in April this year.
“Pakistan has requested us not to distribute Olympic quota in rapid fire pistol in Delhi, where Pakistani athletes were supposed to take part. They have asked us to distribute it in next World Cup in Beijing,” Ratner told Indian Express.
”To change (the format) is the authority of the IOC, we can’t do it. We are trying to find a solution with the Indian authorities. We have sent a letter to the minister and hope to meet him.”
According to DNA, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and NRAI have already got enough hints from IOC and ISSF regarding the possible consequences for India as a host country for all future international competitions,across all Olympic sports.
Also, India’s bid to host the 2032 Olympics and 2030 Asian Games have potentially suffered a major jolt in the wake of the blocking of visas to the Pakistan shooters.
As per DNA, Ratner minced no words as he warning India to get ready for tough sanctions in the near future.
“To be honest, not giving visas to any athlete is a serious issue for ISSF and IOC. I cannot comment on the sanctions right now as there is proper forum to address that,” Ratner noted.
“The main demand of Pak federation now is to shift two quota places from Delhi to Beijing. Again, the decision will be taken by the IOC and not ISSF in this regard. Pak Olympic committee is already in touch with IOC in this regard,” he added.
A total of 503 shooters from 58 countries will be competing for top honours with eight of the 10 events offering 16 quota places for the Tokyo Games.
