Neeraj Chopra rules out Arshad Nadeem’s presence at Bengaluru event

INDIA’s Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has said that Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem will not be attending the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru next month. His comments came after the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 tourists.

Chopra said the possibility of Nadeem’s presence was “completely out of the question” following the attack, which took place on Tuesday.

A day before the attack, Chopra had announced that top javelin throwers, including Paris Olympics champion Nadeem, had been invited to the event on May 24. He had said the event could help India host a Diamond League meet in the future.

However, the attack drew criticism of Chopra’s decision to extend an invitation to Nadeem, although reports said the Pakistan athlete was unlikely to attend.

“There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” Chopra said in a social media post on Friday.

“The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events.

“After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad's presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.”

Media reports said Nadeem, who became Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, had already opted out of the event due to a clash with his training for the Asian Championships in South Korea next month.

Earlier this year, tensions between India and Pakistan had affected sports ties when India’s cricket team chose not to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. All their matches, including the March 9 final, were held in Dubai.

(With inputs from Reuters)