Neeraj Chopra, a gold medalist of India’s Olympic javelin, said that it is now “completely out of the question” that Pakistan’s rival Arshad Madem will attend his meeting in Bengaluru next month, which will take place after a fatal attack in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
India and Pakistan have reached their lowest level in years after the killing of 26 tourists on Wednesday.
A day before the attack, Chopra announced that the world’s top throwing, including the Paris Olympic champion Nadeem, was first invited to Neeraj Chopra Classic on May 24, an incident that he hoped that he would one day pave the way for the Diamond League meeting in India.
However, the attack in IIOJK inspired the huge criticism of Chopra’s decision, even though it was unlikely that Pakistan was going to participate in the thrower.
Chopra, who won gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris, said in a social media post on Friday, “My decision to invite Ashd Madem to compete in Neeraj Chopra Classic has been talked about, and most of them have been hated and misused.”
“The invitation I gave till Arshad was from one athlete to another-nothing less. The purpose of NC Classic was to bring the best athletes for India and our country to be home to world class sports events.
“Whatever has happened in the last 48 hours, after that, Arshad’s presence in the NC Classic was completely out of question.”
Media reports said that Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medalist Madem opted not to participate in the Bengaluru meet, which clashed with his training program for the Asian Championship in South Korea next month.
The sour relations between the two countries also spread to the sports world earlier this year when India’s cricket team refused to visit Pakistan for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy and played all their matches including the 9 March final in Dubai.
