NEW DELHI: An Indian snooker tournament has been indefinitely postponed ina row over visas for Pakistani athletes following a suicide bomb attack NewDelhi has blamed on Pakistan.
The 10 Reds Asian Tour event, scheduled to be held in Bangalore next month,looks likely to be cancelled after organisers said they could not guaranteePakistani competitors would be allowed into the country.
It follows the International Olympic Committee´s suspension of talks withIndia on holding major sports events last week after New Delhi refused toissue visas to two Pakistani shooters to take part in a World Cup event.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have risen following a February14 suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Indian paramilitaries were killed.
“It might be moved out, it has already been postponed,” a senior AsianConfederation of Billiards Sport (ACBS) official said of the tour event,speaking on condition of anonymity.
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“The participation of every member nation is paramount and is theresponsibility of the host country.”
After legs in Qatar and China, the Bangalore tournament was to be the thirdon the Asian tour.
But Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) secretary S.Subramaniam told AFP six of the 24 proposed competitors were of Pakistaniorigin.
