After withdrawing from the upcoming ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Cyprus, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh said the decision comes after the travel advisory issued by the Ministry of Health on February 26 which curtails Indians to visit certain nations due to coronavirus outbreak in many countries globally, and one of those nations will be represented there.
"We wish to make abundantly clear, that we have no comment to offer on their participation which we consider to bother right and therefore upholding their right to participate at the same time complying with the ministry of health advisory, we have taken the step of our Shotgun team traveling to Cyprus," Raninder said in a statement.
The NRAI president further stated that India is scheduled to host a combined World Cup from March 16 to 26 at the Dr Karni Singh Range in New Delhi, if Indian shooters participate in Shotgun World Cup in Cyprus they have to be in quarantine for 14 days according to the procedure. In that case, they will miss the World Cup on home soil.
"Now, given the next World Cup commences on February 16 and our team was scheduled to travel back to Delhi on February 12, it would follow, should any of them had been quarantined, they would not have been able to represent the country in New Delhi. Keeping the health and welfare of our athletes as a primary concern and in compliance with the ministry of Health travel advisory and finally given the facts as stated above, the NRAI decided to regrettably withdraw its team," Raninder said.
Coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 45 other countries including the US, UK, Singapore, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and India.
The global death toll is over 2,800, and China, where the outbreak originated, is the worst hit, with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities.
The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak an international health emergency and said the global risk level remains high.