World Para Athletics Grand Prix: How Middle East Conflict, Ramzan Are Affecting New Delhi Event

The escalating conflict in West Asia has dealt a major blow to the ongoing World Para Athletics Grand Prix here, with participation shrinking drastically as only six foreign nations ultimately made it to Indian shores, despite nearly 30 countries having earlier confirmed their presence.

Coaches associated with the Indian team said the war, coupled with the holy month of Ramzan, played a significant role in drastically reducing participation numbers, adding that that while 18 foreign nations had travelled for India's inaugural edition of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix at the same venue last year, the organisers could not replicate those numbers this time.

A total of 257 athletes are competing in the Grand Prix, the second leg of the season, with India fielding a massive 219 participants across multiple track-and-field events and sport classifications.

Russia has the second-largest contingent with 40 para athletes, while the remaining countries account for only a minuscule presence in comparison.

"The event has been hit hard by the ongoing conflict in the Gulf as well as Ramzan. Around seven to eight Muslim countries could not make the trip because of that (Ramzan). Several International Paralympic Committee officials were also unable to travel and had to be replaced at the last minute as they were not getting flights into India," said a coach of a renowned para athlete on condition of anonymity.

"Most of the connecting flights come via Dubai and the Gulf and with the disruptions they (athletes) had to cancel their trips," said the coach.

The inaugural World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai last month featured athletes from 53 nations, lending the competition a truly international flavour, but the event in India has been largely dominated by the hosts, with several clean sweeps owing to the limited participation from foreign countries.

"When the Grand Prix was held in Dubai, there were no such issues and India had also sent a 59-member contingent. Most of the withdrawals this time happened at the last minute. We received several communications, and governments of a number of countries also issued travel advisories, because of which their contingents pulled out," said another coach.

Devendra Jhajharia, president of the Paralympic Committee of India, conceded that the two factors had indeed taken a toll on the Grand Prix, but stressed that the event was also sending out a strong message that India is capable of hosting a major international competition despite the challenges unfolding around the world.

"Yes participation is less due to the month of Ramzan and the conflict in the Gulf. Several events have got cancelled because of that. But we are organising an international event, which is good.

"Hosting a Grand Prix means new Indian para athletes can get their classification done in India itself. We have been successful on that front, with 74 new athletes receiving their classification. If an athlete travels to another country for classification, they end up spending lakhs of rupees," said Jhajharia.

"Also, the Asian Para Games are scheduled later this year in Japan. Our athletes need to achieve their MQS (Minimum Qualification Scores), so most of them are competing in the Grand Prix to secure those marks. Once they clear the MQS, there will be trials followed by the final selection for the Games," he added.