PUNE: In a late turns of events, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) allowed India to host the shooting World Cup with 14 quota places instead of the originally proposed 16. But at the same time, the Olympic body has suspended India from hosting any international event till they give a ‘written guarantee’ of complying with the

. The IOC reached the conclusion after long meeting at their headquarters in Lausanne on early Friday (India time).

The IOC team met after receiving a request from the National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) to cancel quota places for the men’s 25m rapid fire event as the hosts India failed to grant visas to two Pakistan shooters participating in that category.

“The

(IOC) Executive Board (EB) today revoked the Olympic qualification status of the 25m rapid fire pistol event of the International Sports Shooting Federation (

) World Cup Rifle/Pistol. The competition is taking place in New Delhi, India, from 20 to 28 February 2019,” the IOC said in a statement on their website.

“Since becoming aware of the issue, and in spite of intense last-minute joint efforts by the IOC, the ISSF and the Indian NOC, and discussions with the Indian government authorities, no solution has been found to allow the Pakistani delegation to enter India in time to compete. This situation goes against the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Charter, in particular the principles of non-discrimination, as well as the IOC’s and the Olympic Movement’s position, reiterated on many occasions over the past few years, that equal treatment must be guaranteed for all participating athletes and sporting delegations at international sports events, without any form of discrimination or political interference from the host country,” the statement said.

“As a result, the IOC Executive Board also decided to suspend all discussions with the Indian NOC and government regarding the potential applications for hosting future sports and Olympic-related events in India, until clear written guarantees are obtained from the Indian government to ensure the entry of all participants in such events in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter – and to recommend that the IFs neither award to nor hold sports events in India until the above-mentioned guarantees are obtained,” the IOC said.

Speaking about the late development, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh said, “We have just received the decision of the IOC through the ISSF with regards to the fate of the 16 Olympic quotas available at the ISSF World Cup currently underway. The IOC in its wisdom has decided to withhold the issuance of the two quotas available in this event (rapid fire) and at the same time, cleared the issuance of the 14 other quotas available in other events.”

The World Cup has been officially called open on Thursday, but the matches will begin from Saturday.