India barred from hosting Jr Davis Cup, Jr Fed Cup

ISLAMABAD: India continues to face sports embargo as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has barred the country from hosting Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup shifting the April event to Bangkok (Thailand) instead.

The ITF official Catherine Michie in a letter written to Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) confirmed shifting the event to Thailand instead of New Delhi (India) where it was originally scheduled.

“The Juniors Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Asia Oceania Final Qualifying event will now be held in Thailand instead of New Delhi (India),” the ITF communique said. The two leading boys and girls junior events would now be held in Thailand from April 8-20. The ITF has shifted these important events from India in view of the recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision not to allot any international event to India, till the time it guarantees visa facilities to all the participants according to IOC Charter.

The IOC Executive Board has already decided to suspended 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 events in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter.

The IOC also recommend that the international sports federations neither award to, nor hold sports events in India until the country guarantees in writing to facilitate and provided timely visas to participants not matter to which member country the contingent, squad or player belongs to. The IOC Board also thanked member countries Olympic Associations and hoped to solve visa matter soon. “We thank you for your valuable cooperation in this approach and hope that the necessary written guarantees will soon be provided by the Indian government to resolve this situation for future events.

Lastly, in view of the numerous Olympic qualification events that are upcoming in 2019, we count on your valuable collaboration to monitor this issue across all competitions throughout the world, recognising that the IOC will maintain a strong position with regards to the participation of all athletes in competitions.”

Depriving India of hosting rights of the Junior Davis Cup is the result of that embargo.

The United World Wrestling (UWW) has already withdrawn international event’s hosting rights from India following the decision. The decision by the ITF to pull out the hosting rights of Junior Davis Cup is yet another blow to a nation that spares no chance to take political millage out of sports events.