Coronavirus outbreak: China seeks visas for its grapplers for Asian Wrestling championships in India

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, recently India had suspended e-visa facility for Chinese citizens thus making it difficult for the country's wrestlers to take part in the upcoming Asian Wrestling Championship. As per a report in the Times of India, the Chinese Wrestling Association (CWA) has requested the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), in writing, to help them obtain visas for their wrestlers and officials.

The Asian Wrestling Championships is scheduled to take place at the Indira Gandhi indoor stadium in New Delhi from February 18-23. This time the tournament will have more significance as only the participating teams will be allowed to play in the upcoming Asian Olympic Qualifiers, which was scheduled to be held in Xian, China from March 27-29 but had to be moved out.

The Chinese federation has informed its Indian counterpart that all its wrestlers have been tested and quarantined, none of them has been infected by the virus. "The Chinese federation has given WFI the guarantee that all its wrestlers are safe and out of the coronavirus' reach. They want the WFI to facilitate their visa process at the earliest. They also want to visit India at least one week prior to the championship, so that they can train without any problem," a WFI official was quoted saying by TOI.

"But the WFI's hands are tied. The Indian High Commission in Beijing will decide on this issue," he said before adding that it was quite unlikely that the Chinese wrestlers would be granted visas.

As per the report, some Indian wrestlers have admitted they were concerned about contracting the virus while competing against the Chinese wrestlers.

The report also added that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad yet to process their visa applications and thus, the participation of Pakistani wrestlers in the event is doubtful.