Visa woes put Antim Panghal's Paris Olympics 2024 preparation on hold
According to the reports published in Times of India, Indian wrestler Antim Panghal is concerned over her support staff not receiving visas for the forthcoming Paris Olympics, scheduled to start on July 26. This scenario might hamper her Olympic preparations.
Notably, Antim Panghal's four-member support staff, including coach Bhagat Singh, sparring partner Vikas, masseur Nisha, and physio Heera Mundluru, are waiting for the processing of visa by the France Consulate in Delhi.
Bhagat Singh stated that they visited the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) center at Shivaji Stadium Metro Complex but were informed that their biometrics couldn’t be done without an official letter from the consulate.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the letters had to be sent by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to the consulate in a particular format. However, IOA didn’t follow the given format in the letter, thus failing to process the visas.
"When we first visited the VFS centre on July 11, the officer there told us that we needed to bring our flight tickets, accommodation details and papers showing the duration of our stay. Today, we went to the centre again with all the details, but the officer refused to collect our biometrics saying he hasn't refused our visa processing request from the consulate," Singh said.
"Later, we were told that IOA has to first send the mail to the consulate in a particular format for each of the support staff member travelling and that mail will then be updated by the consulate in its system before intimating the VFS staff which will then collect our biometrics. When we contacted the IOA, an official there told us that the mail will be sent soon to the consulate. This should have been done much earlier. We can't travel daily from our training base to the VFS centre for this purpose. It is affecting Antim Panghal's training," Singh added.
IOA had written for the facilitation of visas for Antim Panghal's support staff
On July 10, the IOA Chief PT Usha had written a letter to the consulate, requesting for the facilitation of visas for each traveling support staff member. However, since the visa applications details weren’t given in a particular format, VFS refused to collect the biometrics.
Additionally, Singh emphasized that they have been given the next appointment for August 2. However, they have their flight scheduled for August 3 afternoon.
Though Antim Panghal was supposed to travel a few days prior, she chose to travel with her support staff. With her bout scheduled on August 7, she will have very little time to get prepared for the bout and acclimatize to the conditions in Paris.