The Indian High Commission has denied visas to Pakistani wrestlers who were to represent Pakistan in the Asian Wrestling Championship being held in India between May 10 and 14.
“45 days ago, we applied for our Indian visas. We have just found out that the Indian High Commission has rejected the visa applications of our players and officials,” revealed Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) Secretary Muhammad Arshad.
Pakistani wrestlers Muhammad Inam Butt and Muhammad Bilal were set to participate in the five-day contest taking place in Delhi.
“Our federation will write a complaint to United World Wrestling and demand that India be stripped off its right to host international events unless it guarantees that visas will be issued to all participating players, including players from Pakistan,” Arshad said while speaking to a private news channel.
It is becoming all too common for Pakistani players to find their visas rejected by Indian authorities. The result can be quite damaging for the players, as their absence from international tournaments can seriously dent their rankings in the international circuit.
According to a press release issued last month by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), the body was forced to withdraw its squash contingent from participation in 19th Asian Senior Squash Championship 2017, scheduled to be held in Chennai India between April 26 and April 30.
The PSF claimed it had lodged its visa applications more than a month in advance but they were eventually rejected.
Similarly, in December last year, India did not issue Pakistan’s junior hockey players the visas that they needed to be able to participate in the tournament, a press release issued by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) said.
The International Hockey Federation had claimed that the PHF failed to submit its player’s travel documents on time — a claim strongly rejected by the PHF.
In 2015, a Pakistani under-17 wrestling contingent missed out on an opportunity to play in India due to similar reasons.
