The Cycling Federation of India, which will host the Asian cycling championship in New Dehli from Thursday, "has attracted international embarrassment," according to THE HINDU.
Cyclists from a few countries, including Iran, "are yet to get visas for the event," and the CFI "is facing pressure from the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Asian Cycling Confederation over the issue." The uncertainty over Iran’s participation, especially, "has irked the UCI and ACC." In a recent article published on its website, the Cycling Federation of Islamic Republic of Iran (CFIRI) said that the CFI was not giving any "authentic" reply. The article stated: "[The] Iranian national federation had to cancel tickets three times so far and sustained a big financial loss. A huge amount of money has been spent on the riders’ preparation for the Asian championship but the innocent riders are now seeing their efforts going waste." The CFIRI has put out portions of letters written by the UCI President Pat McQuaid and the ACC Secretary General Choi Boo Woong "in favour of Iranian cyclists." CFI General Secretary Onkar Singh said that his organization was trying to convince the government authorities. Onkar said, "We get a bad name for this. We had done all paperwork in time. We are trying to resolve the situation" (THE HINDU, 3/4).
