India To Miss U17 World Wrestling Championship? Four Days To Departure, Grapplers Yet To Get Visa Appointment

The Indian cadet wrestling teams risk missing the prestigious U17 World Championship in Athens, beginning on July 28, as the 47-member contingent is scheduled to depart on Saturday but the Greece embassy is yet to respond to their visa appointment request.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had sought appointment on July 10 but 12 days have passed and it is yet to hear a positive response from the embassy.

When nothing moved even six days after their request, WFI wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on July 16, seeking intervention.

The 47-member 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 and the Home Ministry after its numerous requests did not receive a positive response from the Greece 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 the Greece embassy in a matter of four days but this time there is an inexplicable delay. Recently our wrestler Harshita got a Shengen visa by the Hungary embassy in one day, I don't know why Greece embassy is delaying it this time," said another WFI official.

The Indian squad has several Asian Championship gold medallists in the squad, including Rachna Parmar (43kg), Moni (57kg), Ashvini Vaishno (65kg), and Manisha (69kg) and they will be 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."