Visa issues rock India's World Relays participation

 Indian relay team's participation in the IAAF World Relays, starting in Bahamas from April 22, has been thrown into uncertainty as it is yet to get clearance for transit visa from US Embassy.

Six men and six women, besides two coaches and a masseur, were part of the Indian contingent scheduled to travel through the US on transit visa. The team has already got its visas for Bahamas but they cannot travel because the transit visa for US is yet to be cleared.

Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said there was no delay on its part. "As soon as we got the visa clearance from Bahamas, we had applied for transit visa at US Embassy. There has been no delay on our part," AFI director ML Dogra said.

The team got the go ahead for Bahamas on April 7 and Dogra said the same day they approached the US Embassy.

"This has put us in difficult spot for the team to reach on time and compete," said an AFI official.