The Pakistan cycling team Wednesday pulled out of the 2014 Track Asia Cup, starting Nov 21 here, "owing to certain problems at home", a statement from the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) said.
It was earlier reported that there was a delay in procurring visas for the team. But CFI said that their withdrawal had nothing to do with visa issues and it was politically cleared.
"We had written to the home ministry as well as the ministry of external affairs and the matter was under consideration with these ministries," Onkar Singh, secretary general, said in a release Wednesday.
He said that the hosts received a message from the Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) Wednesday that they would not be in a position to take part in the championships.
"We would have liked to host the Pakistani cyclists in India and they too were eager to participate in the New Delhi event. Unfortunately, their apex body has withdrawn entry citing some problems and we respect their sentiments," Singh said.
He also said that riders from Kazakhstan, Thailand and Bangladesh arrived here Wednesday to participate in the three-day event to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Velodrome.
