Commonwealth Wrestling Championships postponed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 30

The Commonwealth Games Wrestling Championships have been postponed due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The South African Wrestling Federation (SAWF) as hosts have communicated to the member nations that they had no option but to postpone the event — scheduled to be held in Pretoria from December 3 — after a few nations, including England, said they will give the tournament a miss. The Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup to be held in South Africa was earlier postponed due to the travel restrictions.

“This decision was made at an emergency meeting earlier tonight and comes after the imposition of numerous bans on travel to and from South Africa over the past few days,” SAWF secretary general Gussie Bartlett said in a letter addressed to member nations.

The Indian team was to get all their travel documents today. However, now that the tournament has been postponed, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has requested the South African authorities that the team should not be asked to file details to travel again once new dates are out.

It is expected that the tournament may be held in March next year. “We have requested them that we should not be asked to file for visas again. Let’s see what happens,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said.