BWF says India Open will be held as planned

In the wake of International Olympic Committee's (IOC) statement that asked all international sport governing bodies to suspend all future competitions scheduled to held in India after Indin government denied visas to Pakistan shooting contingent for the shooting World Cup, question mark was hovering over the BWF India Open scheduled to take place in New Delhi from March 26.

Kuala Lumpur: Badminton World Federation (BWF) said the India Open will be held in India as planned as they hadn't received any communication from the IOC on the matter.

Some of the renowned names of badminton are expected to take part in the $350,000 event.

Shedding light on India's premier international badminton event, BWF Communications and Commercial Director Owen Leed said, "We have not heard any communication from IOC apart from their official statement on February 22. And there has been no other information regarding India Open."

In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, which was carried out by Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, India denied to visas to Pakistan's three-members shooting contingent. However, the issue didn't go well with IOC as it said India breached the Olympic Charter by not allowing Pakistan to participate in the New Delhi World Cup.

In the backdrop of the development, IOC snapped two Olympic quota places from the 25m Air Pistol event.

With the IOC asked its affiliated international sports bodies not to host any future event in the country, India's wish to host the Youth Olympics 2026, the Asian Games 2030 and the Summer Olympics 2032 may suffer a setback until the international Olympic body receive an official guideline from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

However, it is still unclear whether the BWF sought any written guarantees from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) following the recommendation of IOC.