Asia's Athletic Championship has been moved to the northern Indian city of Pune, after Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai refused to host the event earlier this year.
"We did not consider Chennai as a venue once the government refused to host the event. Sports is one thing and public sentiments another. We should understand that it would not be possible to organize the meet there," said Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwala to the Associated Press.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha said in February that Chennai would not play host to an event because of the participation of Sri Lankan athletes.
Jayalalitha had initially requested a ban of Sri Lankan athletes from the competition, however this was ignored by New Delhi, leading to the Chief Minister to block the event from happening in the state.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
