Two Pakistani shooters - Muhammad Khalil Akhtar and Ghulam Mustafa Bashir - and their coach Razi Ahmed were scheduled to travel to India for the mega shooting event.
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Razi Ahmed, the secretary of National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP, claimed that they were first informed by the Indian High Commission that the contingent has been granted Indian visas for the global event. However, a couple of hours later, the visa was denied.
When he was asked to explain the development Razi said he received a phone call from the Indian high commission at 2 pm (PST) that the contingent would be issued Indian visas on Tuesday for the shooting World Cup.
“After this phone call, we were making our travel plan from Karachi via Dubai. But at 4.30 pm (PST), another phone call from the Indian High Commission said we are sorry for the earlier call and no visas have been granted so far, and it is still under process," Razi said.
Meanwhile, the incumbent NRAP secretary, Razi, told the Indian high commission personnel that the federation could only wait till Monday night before cancelling the tour.
“I received a call from the High Commission on Friday and they confirmed the names again. Moreover, I got a call from Pakistan shooting federation who informed to us about confirmation from the Indian high commission only today (Monday),” NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia was quoted as saying by media.
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The International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup 2019 is a significant tournament for India. The tournament will be played at home soil at the Dr Karni Singh Range, and 16 Tokyo 2020 Olympics berths will be up for grab.
Hosts India is fielding a 23-member squad with 11 shooters will ply their trade in the non-competition Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) category.
