India risks missing U-17 Wrestling World Championships due to delay in visa appointment
India’s 47-member wrestling contingent risks missing the U17 World Championship in Athens, beginning on July 28, as the Greek embassy is yet to respond to its visa appointment request.
The team is expected to leave on Saturday, July 26.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had sought an appointment on July 10, but 12 days have passed and it is yet to hear a positive response. When nothing moved six days after its request, the WFI wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on July 16, seeking intervention.
The Indian contingent has 30 wrestlers, who made the national team after coming through selection trials conducted by WFI on July 7 and 8 in Delhi and Lucknow, respectively.
“The Federation had to seek intervention of the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and the Home Ministry after its numerous requests did not receive a positive response from Greece’s embassy,” WFI President, Sanjay Singh, told PTI.
“The tickets have been booked and the players are ready. The exposure for young athletes is paramount for their growth. They must not miss the World Championship. It’s Tuesday today. Let’s hope we get a response now,” he added.
“In the past, we have got visas from Greece’s embassy in a matter of four days, but this time, there is an inexplicable delay. Recently, our wrestler Harshita got a Schengen visa from the Hungary embassy in a day. I don’t know why the Greece embassy is delaying it this time,” said another WFI official.
The travelling squad has several Asian Championship gold medallists in the squad, including Rachna Parmar (43kg), Moni (57kg), Ashvini Vaishno (65kg), and Manisha (69kg) — all being strong medal contenders in Athens.
Even the world governing body United World Wrestling (UWW) President Nenad Lalovic has shot a missive to the Hellenic Olympic Committee, requesting urgent intervention in the matter.
“Unfortunately, some of the qualified and registered teams — including the Iranian and Indian delegations — have encountered difficulties and delays in obtaining their Schengen visas,” Lalovic wrote on Sunday.
“Despite having followed the application procedures correctly, these teams have not yet received their visas. I would therefore be most grateful for your support in facilitating this process with the relevant authorities, to ensure that all participating athletes and officials are able to obtain their visas in time,” the letter read.
A note on the Greece embassy website reads: “Kindly be informed that due to the current situation, the processing time of the visa applications is 15 working days, as per instructions of the Greek Embassy in New Delhi, and may be extended.”
Explaining the visa procedure further, the website mentions that it may take more than 15 days to process the visa applications.
“Applicants submitting their visa application at a Visa Application Centre in India other than the one in New Delhi, need to calculate 5 extra days to their minimum processing time as their visa application will first be dispatched to the GVCW New Delhi VAC for Greece, from where it will be forwarded to the Embassy of Greece – Consular Office in New Delhi the following day.”