Indian Government Clears All Athletes for Participation in International Events in India

New Delhi: Government of India has given written assurance to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) that they will allow every eligible athlete of all nations to participation in international events on Indian soil without "prejudice or policies on political matters" being an issue.

The issue started back in February with the Shooting World Cup when two Pakistani shooters were denied visa at the backdrop of the Pulwama terror attacks. IOC had taken a strong stance then and had decided to pull back the Olympic quota in the category where Pakistani shooters were set to participate.

IOC had further warned India about the situation and had asked all its affiliated associations to not give any international events to India unless provided with a written assurance that visas will not be denied to anyone over political matters.