International Olympic Committee will not talk with India regarding hosting of qualifying events for the 2020 Olympics. IOC decision came after India refused to issue visas to Pakistani Shooters in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.
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The Olympic committee also dismissed the Olympic qualification status for the shooting event from the New Delhi World Cup due to denial of visas to the Pakistani shooters. The International Olympic Committee said: “it will not allow India to organise Olympic-related events in the future unless written assurances are obtained from the government”. The two Pakistani shooters’ participation in the tournament had become doubtful.
The International Olympic Committee decision in retaliation to the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) President Vladimir Lisin statement that all the allotted 16 Olympic quotas for the 2020 Games would be rejected. Though, the apex body limited the withholding of quotas to only two while retaining 14.
The IOC in a statement after its executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland said: “The IOC restricted the withdrawal of recognition as an Olympic qualification event to the 25m rapid fire pistol competition in which the two Pakistani athletes were supposed to participate. This happened in the interest of the other 500 athletes from 61 countries participating in the other events who are already in India for their competition.”
“Since becoming aware of the issue and in spite of intense last-minute joint efforts by the IOC, the ISSF and the Indian National Olympic Committee (NOC), and discussions with the Indian government authorities, no solution has been found to allow the Pakistani delegation to enter India in time to compete.” the IOC statement read.
The International Olympic Committee emphasised saying, “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 (IFs) neither award nor hold sports events in India until the above-mentioned guarantees are obtained.”
The event in New Delhi also served as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic games where Pakistan had applied for visas for two shooters G M Bashir and Khalil Ahmed in the rapid-fire category.
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