N Korea pulls out of Delhi event, Chinese UWW staff denied visa

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wrestlers will not be seen in action during the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi from February 18 to 23. An eight-member delegation has officially withdrawn from the meet citing difficulties in travel due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the host of the event, received an email from the North Koreans last week regarding their withdrawal. “North Korea has withdrawn from the Asian meet,” a WFI source told The Tribune on Monday. “They were supposed to spend three-hour transit in China before flying to New Delhi, which I guess they were not comfortable with, so they pulled out,” he added.

The North Koreans’ travel plans were also affected due to the large-scale cancellations of flights from China. Over 50 airlines have stopped flying to China due to the outbreak of the virus that has claimed over 900 lives.

Interestingly, a United World Wrestling staff, Li Ling, has been reportedly denied travel documents to come and attend the Asian meet. It is alleged that Ling’s request to travel to India was rejected because she is from China. The development has raised fresh doubts over the Chinese delegation’s participation at the Asian Championships. “She was seeking to travel from Geneva and even then she failed to get visa,” another source added.

Meanwhile, the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the sidelines of a Parliament session seeking help in the issue. Ever since the outbreak of coronavirus in China, athletes from across the world have raised concerns over travelling to China for tournaments. Several prestigious tournaments have either been cancelled or postponed.