With the 11th edition of The World Games just a month away, Pakistan Ju-jitsu Federation (PJJF) is uncertain whether or not its athletes will be able to feature in the prestigious event as they are facing visa delay due to the corona backlog.
Pakistan’s highly talented jujitsukas Dilawar Khan Sannan and Isra Waseem are scheduled to feature in The World Games, to be held in Birming-ham, Alabama, United States from July 7 to 17.
The games, originally planned for 2021, were postponed to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pan-demic.
“Dilawar and Isra’s participation in the duo mixed category of the ju-jitsu discipline at the games was confirmed by the organizers in the last week of March and we had timely moved our visa applica-tions to the US Consulate in Karachi.
“But due to the corona backlog, we have been given the appointment for visa interviews after the conclusion of the event, which will not be of use,” Tariq Ali, Associate Secretary of the PJJF told APP on Thursday.
Tariq, who is also set to accompany the athletes as manager-cum-coach, said the ju-jitsu event of the games would commence on July 12 but they wanted to fly to the US a week prior to the competition to get acclimatized with the conditions.
“We’ve received an NOC (no objection certifi-cate) from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and fulfilled all other necessary requirements to partici-pate in the event,” he added.
According to Tariq, the two athletes earned the place in The World Games after years of hard work and featuring in a number of international events, which had served as qualifiers.
“Qualifying for The World Games is not an easy task.—APP
