The ISSF threatened ‘consequences for India as a host country for future international competitions’. (Express photo by Mihir Vasavda)A private jet on standby in Delhi. A Pakistani team waiting for visas in Karachi. And confusion over the 16 Tokyo Olympic quotas. The Delhi World Cup was declared open on Thursday in the midst of unprecedented efforts to ensure the participation of Pakistan shooters and save the organisers from the embarrassment of facing international sanctions.
At the time of going to the press, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Board was still dwelling on the issue. “The IOC is aware of the case and the Executive Board (EB) is deliberating on it. The decision of the IOC EB will be issued at 10 pm Lausanne time (2.30 am IST) this evening,” an IOC spokesperson said.
A three-member Pakistani team, comprising two pistol shooters and a manager, was scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Wednesday. However, they have been waiting for visas since the start of the week. While there has been no statement from the Indian officials, the ISSF and National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) have claimed the visas have not been granted so far because of the terror strikes in Pulwama last week.
The ISSF threatened ‘consequences for India as a host country for future international competitions’, citing this as a violation of Olympic Charter. According to IOC rules, a host country has to make sure no athlete or official is “excluded for racial, religious or political reasons or by reason of other forms of discrimination.”
In a last-minute bid to salvage the situation, ISSF president Vladimir Lisin met sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at noon on Thursday. Following the meeting, the Russian billionaire offered a private jet to airlift the Pakistani team from Karachi. “I’d appreciate you confirm the readiness of two Pakistani athletes and one official to participate in the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in case they are granted visas today (Thursday). The ISSF will solve the transportation problem by sending a private jet that will bring them to New Delhi,” he wrote in an email to NRAP officials.
NRAP executive vice president Jawaid Lodhi has accepted the ISSF president’s offer, but with certain conditions. He demanded that the team should reach Delhi latest by February 23 and demanded the organising committee guarantee they weren’t ‘harassed’. “We are sure that in view of the current situation, the Organising committee will make foolproof arrangement for the security of our team members and will also ensure that they do not face any harassment either at the airport for bringing firearms and ammunition for participating in the ISSF World Cup or during their stay in India,” Lodhi stated in his reply to Lisin.
The visas, however, were not issued on Thursday. Lodhi had demanded on Wednesday that quota places on offer in the 25m rapid fire event – in which their shooters GM Bashir and Khalil Ahmed were to take part – be withdrawn.
However, there are chances that the IOC may scrap quotas from all events. There is a precedent to this. Ahead of the Rio Olympics, the Olympic body had revoked Olympic qualification status of the Asian Shooting Championship in November 2015 after Kuwait refused to grant visa to an Israeli delegate. Malaysia, too, was recently stripped of the hosting rights for the World Para Swimming Championship after denying visa to Israelis.
A total of 503 shooters from 58 countries will compete at the World Cup, with eight of the 10 events offering 16 quota places for the Tokyo Games.
