After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended India’s application last week to host Olympic events in the future after two Pakistani athletes were denied visas, the Indian Olympic association (IOA) has shown support for the decision.
Tensions between India and Pakistan are high in the wake of an attack on Indian paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir, for which India blames Pakistan.
Speaking with SBS Punjabi over the telephone from New Delhi, R. K. Anand, Indian Olympic Association’s Senior Vice President said that “IOC’s decision is good”.
India denied visas to two Pakistani sportspersons and one official who were due to participate in the Men’s 25-Metre Rapid Fire Pistol Qualifier event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in New Delhi from February 20 to 28.
The IOC has since revoked the Olympic qualification status of this event.
Elaborating on this, Mr Anand said that denying visas to Pakistanis was not the only reason why the IOC took this step.
“A sportsperson from Kosovo had to come to India for a competition. But the government of India doesn’t recognise Kosovo as an independent country. So, he wasn’t granted a visa. The IOC put a lot of pressure on us to get him a visa and we tried hard. I even spoke with India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj about him but this was the government’s policy decision,” says Mr Anand.
He added, that “IOA has decided to convene a meeting of IOA’s executive board next week followed by consultation with India’s Ministry of External Affairs to decide how to respond to IOC’s decision.”
Until this meeting takes place, Mr Anand says that “IOA is bound by the decision of IOC and can’t do anything”. He was referring to a letter written by IOC to IOA suspending their applications for hosting future Olympic events and suggesting global sports federations to not host events there either.
Mr Anand is of the belief that politics and sports should not be mixed.
“We are telling the government to not mix politics with sports. In IOA, there are members from various political parties. Despite that we don’t indulge in politics. I believe the decision of IOC is good because it will pressure the government to separate politics from sports. Sports always bring two countries closer. Whenever India and Pakistan play each other, whether it is cricket or hockey, people watch the match with a lot of interest. So this decision by the Government of India is wrong and we’ll get it overturned,” Mr Anand said.
In a strongly-worded letter to the IOA, the IOC has asked for “written guarantees” from India to assure “compliance” with the Olympic Charter.
Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
‘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 IFs neither award to nor hold sports events in India until the above-mentioned guarantees are obtained.’
Click on the player at the top of the page to listen to this interview in Punjabi.
