Sports Ministry withholds visa letters for foreign teams till BCCI falls in line with Nada: Report

BCCI’s steadfast refusal to comply with the World Anti Doping Code and allow the National Anti Doping Agency to test Indian cricketers could affect the home cricket season as the Sports Ministry has refused to issue letters required for visa processing of foreign teams, Mumbai Mirror reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, South Africa’s men, women and ‘A’ teams are scheduled to visit India over the next one month but their visa procedure has been pending since the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs hasn’t sent across an invitation letter to the concerned embassy. The A series starts on August 27.

Even Bangladesh and West Indies are scheduled to tour India later in the year and BCCI has already requested the ministry to issue invitation letters for the two teams.

While government permission is not required to host a bilateral series, except against Pakistan, the embassys do ask for an invitation letter from the Sports Ministry before issuing visas to visiting team members.

The report said the Committee of Administrators met in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the logjam and decided to enter into a dialogue with the ministry to sort the issue.

It’s worth noting that the ministry and BCCI have been at loggerheads over the latter’s anti-doping program.

While the ministry wants the Board to allow Nada to collect dope sample of players, BCCI has been collecting the samples through their own system and is opposed to the anti-doping agency’s involvement. Recently, BCCI had hinted that it would allow Nada to test cricketers on a trial basis for six months but the ministry insists that only total compliance is an acceptable solution.

Sports Secretary RS Julaniya told the paper, “We are awaiting a confirmation from BCCI that it would abide by the rules and regulations promoted by government so as to ensure fair play and fair treatment to all athletes. Rule of law mandates that law is equal for all and every body is equal before law, including BCCI and athletes registered by it. The issue of NOC is delayed by BCCI, not by government.”