IOC Suspends India From Hosting Global Sports Events for Denying Pakistan Shooters Visa
The International Olympic Committee also revoked the Olympic quota status for the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event from the ISSF World Cup — the event the two Pakistan shooters were taking part in (Pic: Twitter, moneycontrol.com).
In response to the denial of visas to Pakistan shooters for the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended “all discussions” with India regarding hosting of global sporting events. The denial of visas to the two Pakistan shooters came in the wake of last week’s Pulwama terror attack in which more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
In addition to the suspension, the IOC also revoked the Olympic qualification status for the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event from the ISSF World Cup — the event the two Pakistan shooters were taking part in. That season-opening ISSF event in New Delhi originally had 16 Olympic quota places up for grabs.
Video | Rise of the Indian Runner: From La Ultra to Brazil 135
The Indian shooters who will be affected by this decision are Commonwealth Games gold medallists Anish Bhanwala and Arpit Goel, Bhavesh Shekhawat, Adarsh Singh and Gurpreet Singh.
The IOC said it will not allow India to organise Olympic-related events in the future, unless written assurances are obtained from the government.
The IOC decision regarding the revoking of Olympic qualification slots, came hours after International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President Vladimir Lisin announced that all the allotted 16 Olympic quotas for the 2020 Games available in Delhi would be scrapped.
In a strongly worded letter, the IOC further criticised India for going against the Olympic charter.
“This situation goes against the fundamental principles of the Olympic charter, in particular the principles of non-discrimination, as well as the IOC’s and the Olympic movement’s position, reiterated on many occasions over the past few years, that equal treatment must be guaranteed for all participating athletes and sporting delegations at international sports events, without any form of discrimination or political interference from the host country,” the letter read.
Video | Pulwama Fallout: I-League Champions Refuse to Play in Kashmir
“As a result, the IOC executive board also decided to suspend all discussions with the Indian NOC and government regarding the potential applications for hosting future sports and Olympic-related events in India, until clear written guarantees are obtained from the Indian government to ensure the entry of all participants in such events in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic charter — and to recommend that the international federations neither award nor hold sports events in India until the above-mentioned guarantees are obtained,” the IOC letter said.
The suspension puts into jeopardy another shooting World Cup scheduled to be held next year, as well as India’s plans to bid for the 2026 Youth Olympics, 2030 Asian Games and the 2032 Summer Olympics. All of those negotiations will be put on hold at the moment.
There is also a cloud over the Hockey Series, an Olympic qualifier event and therefore under the IOC, scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar in June this year.
Read more sports stories from Newsclick
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
