Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem pulls out of Neeraj Chopra Classic event amid visa row and terror attack fallout

According to an agency report, Nadeem expressed his unavailability for the prestigious event, a brain child of India's greatest athlete Neeraj Chopra, since he was scheduled to leave on May 22 for the Asian championship in Korea scheduled around the same time.

Hyderabad: Paris Olympics gold medalist in javelin, Arshad Nadeem, will not be there for the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic javelin event in Bengaluru on May 24.

According to an agency report, Nadeem expressed his unavailability for the prestigious event, a brain child of India’s greatest athlete Neeraj Chopra, since he was scheduled to leave on May 22 for the Asian championship in Korea scheduled around the same time.

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But, even otherwise, a senior athletics official informed ‘Telengana Today’ that in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack which saw many Indians killed in Jammu and Kashmir a couple of days would have been left Nadeem with no option but to pull out as the Indian Government has come out with a series of serious measures including cancelling all visas for the Pakistanis. And, also this visitors from Pakistan were also given a 48-hour time frame to leave India.

In a way, the Neeraj Chopra Classic may not see the greatest athlete from Pakistan in action in the wake of the terrorist attacks and this could some way also dampen the fans enthusiasm for it was Nadeem who pipped Neeraj for gold in the Paris Games and a repeat clash would have been the ultimate treat for the sports-loving Indians, the official explained.