AFI withdraws Fed Cup invitation to foreign countries

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Thursday withdrew its invitation from five countries to participate in the 24th Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships to be held at Patiala from April 10 to 13.

Following the directions of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) referring advisory of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the wake of the outbreak of Corona Virus (COVID-19), AFI withdrew its invitation to athletes from Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for participation in the Federation Cup (Senior) 2020.

"For the senior Indian athletes who are training to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, all our competitions are lined-up beginning with Indian Grand Prix (IGP) 1 in Patiala on 20th March, then IGP 2 on 25th March in Sangrur, IGP 3 in Delhi on 29th March followed by Fed Cup Senior in Patiala," Adille J Sumariwalla, AFI President said in a statement."All these competitions will go ahead as planned for Indian athletes and we will follow all the guidelines as directed by MYAS," he added.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concern.

Coronavirus which originated in the Wuhan city of China has so far spread to more than 90 countries infecting over 1,10,000 people.