India's taekwondo athletes' cries for visa help remain unanswered

The Indian national taekwondo team of 16 players is still struggling for visa appointments with just three days left for the 25th Taekwondo World Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Star Taekwondo player Latika Bhandari told The Bridge, "Taekwondo World Championships is coming soon and we have a 16-member team. We are trying our best to get dates for the Mexican visa. I would request the sports minister Mr Anurag Thakur Ji and the foreign minister Mr S. Jayashankar Ji to help us. World Championships is the biggest stage and we want to do the best for our country."

The Mexican embassy has been notified of the Indian players' situation by letters through the Ministry of Sports and Ministry of External Affairs, but there has been no development.

"The taekwondo world championships are happening from 13th November in Mexico. It has been more than one month since we have been trying to get a visa appointment with the Mexican embassy. We are very short on time and we might miss a crucial event like World Championships due to such issues," explained World Number 18 Aman Kadian.

India last participated in a World Taekwondo event at the 2017 World Championships in South Korea.

Shivansh Tyagi, who recently won a bronze medal at Israel Open, said, "I am selected for the World Championships and we don't have any update on our visa issues. We have sent letters to the embassy through the sports ministry and foreign ministry. Indian team has not participated in any event of World Taekwondo for the past four years due to such problems."

Indian athletes have been facing visa issues quite a lot lately. The wrestling team suffered when the Embassy of Spain denied visas to 21 Indian wrestlers who were to compete at the U-23 World Championship in Pontevedra on suspicion that they would not leave the territory before the expiry of their visas.