Indian Olympic javelin gold medallist\u2019s comments come days after Pahalgam terror attack
\n New Delhi
\nIndia\u2019s Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra said it was now \u201ccompletely out of the question\u201d that rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will attend his meet in Bengaluru next month following a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
\nRelations between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have plummeted to their lowest level in years after the killing of 26 tourists on Wednesday.
\nA day before the attack, Chopra had announced that the world\u2019s top throwers, including Paris Olympics champion Nadeem, had been invited to the first Neeraj Chopra Classic on May 24, an event he hoped would pave the way for a Diamond League meet in India one day.
\nHowever, the attack in IIOJK prompted heavy criticism of Chopra\u2019s decision to invite Nadeem, even though it was unlikely the Pakistan thrower was going to attend.
\n\u201cThere 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,\u201d Chopra, who won gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris, said in a social media post on Friday.
\n\u201cThe invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another \u2014 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.
\n\u201cAfter all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad\u2019s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.\u201d
\nMedia reports said Nadeem, Pakistan\u2019s first individual Olympic gold medallist, had opted not to attend the Bengaluru meet, which clashed with his training schedule for the Asian Championships in South Korea next month.
\nThe soured relations between the two countries also spilled over to the sports world earlier this year when India\u2019s cricket team refused to travel to Pakistan for the International Cricket Council\u2019s (ICC) Champions Trophy and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian Olympic javelin gold medallist\u2019s comments come days after Pahalgam terror attack New Delhi India\u2019s Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra said it was now \u201ccompletely out of the question\u201d that rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will attend his meet in Bengaluru next month following a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-474784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n