Indian cadet teams risk missing the prestigious U17 World Championship in Athens, starting from July 28, because the 47 -member contingent is scheduled for Saturday, but the Greece Embassy must still respond to the request for his visa meeting.
The Indian Federation of Matches (WFI) searched for the appointment of July 10, but 12 days have passed and the positive reaction of the embassy can be heard.
When nothing moved even six days after their request, WFI wrote on July 16th to the Ministry of External Affairs (Mea) and was looking for an intervention.
The 47-member Indian contingent has 30 wrestlers who created the national team after the selection exams made by WFI 7 and 8 July in Delhi and Lucknow.
“The Federation had to look for the intervention of the Mea and the Ministry of the Interior after its numerous requests did not receive a positive answer from Greece Embassy,” President WFI Sanjay Singh PTI said.
“Tickets have been booked and players are ready. Expositions for young athletes are primarily for their growth. I must not miss the World Championship. Today is Tuesday, hopefully we will get the answer,” he added.
“In the past, we got visas from the Embassy of Greece in four days, but this time there was an inexplicable delay. Recently our wrestler Harshita got the Shengen visa by the Hungarian embassy in one day, I do not know why this time he will delay it this time.”
The Indian group has several gold medalists of the Asian championship in the group, including Rachn Parmar (43 kg), Moni (57 kg), Ashvini Vaishno (65 kg) and Manisha (69 kg) and will be a strong medal in Athens.
Even the world government points United World Wrestling (UWW) President Nenad Lalovic shot a mission for the Olympic Committee for Hellen and demanded an urgent intervention in this matter.
“Unfortunately, some of the qualified and registered teams – including Iranian and Indian delegations – encountered difficulties and delay in obtaining their Schengen visas,” Lalovice wrote on Sunday.
“Although these teams have not yet received their visas after the correct advancing procedures. I would therefore be the most important for your support in facilitating this process with the relevant authorities to ensure that all participants athletes and officials will be able to obtain their visas in time,” he read the letter.
The note on the website of the Embassy of Greece is: “Kindly be informed that due to the current situation, the time of processing applications is 15 working days, according to the instructions of the Greek embassy in Nový Delhi and can be extended.”
The website explains that the processing of visa applications further explains that the website mentions that it can take more than 15 days.
“Applicants who submit an application for a visa in an application for visa in India other than the new Delhi must calculate 5 days for their minimum processing period, as their visa application will first be sent to GVCW New Delhi Vac for Greece, where it will be handed over to the Greece Embassy – the next day.”
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Published:
Debodinna Chakracorty
Published on:
22 July 2025
