Three Wushu Players From Arunachal Bound For World University Games In China Handed 'Stapled Visas', Team Held Back

Three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, who were to take part in the World University Games beginning on Friday in Chengdu, were issued 'stapled visas' by the Chinese embassy here, which led to the entire team being held back while the players from other sports left the country. Eight wushu players and four team officials were to travel to China from the IGI airport here in the wee hours of Thursday (1am), but all of them have now been told to stay put by the government. Three of the players -- Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu -- are from Arunachal Pradesh.

A Wushu Association of India official said unlike other multi-sport events like the Asian Games or Olympics, the accreditation of the players and officials for the World University Games is to be collected at the venue and they needed to apply for visas.

In the past also, in case of events held under the aegis of the Asian or world governing bodies of a particular sport, China had issued 'stapled visas' to players from Arunachal Pradesh.

"Despite the World University Games being such a big multi-sport event, the participants will have to collect their accreditation at the host country venue only. Nobody gets the accreditation in India before departure," the official told PTI.

"So, we need to apply for visas and the World University Games organisers (from China) sent an invite which is to be used for visa applications. All of the players and officials got the proper visas but the three players from Arunachal Pradesh got stapled visas." The Association of Indian Universities (AIU), which is the governing body for university sports in the country, had intimated the Chinese Embassy about the visa application. The wushu players visited the visa application