Shotokan Karate coach Shyam Sherpa as well as friends and family of player Diwas Shrestha sat on the Tatame (Karate´s fighting ring) and protested against Nepal Karate Federation (NKF). They didn´t let any selection match to kick off. [break]
After the completion of the first two rounds of the selection tournament, NKF has informed Shrestha that he is ineligible for participation in the Kumite (fighting) event of the 16th Asian Games because of underage.
Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) has written a letter to NKF on Wednesday informing that any player should be 18 years old or above to be eligible for participation in the Asiad. Shrestha´s date of birth, according to his passport, is May 19, 1994. Likewise, Mallika Thapa Chhetri was also found underage by NOC.
However, Shrestha and Shotokan officials protested they were not previously informed about the age criteria. They demanded that Shrestha be allowed to participate in the selection match of 67 kg Kumite, and if selected, to participate in the Asiad in the event of Kata, where the age bar is 16.
“NKF and the selection committee didn´t inform us about the age criteria previously. We handed over Shrestha´s passport right after the first round selection but we have been informed of the age criteria at this stage,” said coach Sherpa.
NKF General Secretary Kedar Babu Shiwakoti ruled out Sherpa´s claims. “They didn´t submit their passports on time. Earlier they had claimed that Shrestha was 18 years old,” said Shiwakoti.
Meanwhile, Referee Council coordinator for the selection round Prakash Mohan Dhaubadel argued that coach Sherpa should have known about the World Karate Federation´s age criteria. “Any player should be above 18 years to participate in senior level championships. How can a coach be ignorant of the fact?” questioned Dhaubadel.
Meanwhile, player Shrestha accused competitor Kushal Shrestha of lodging a complaint after witnessing the former progress in training camp. However, the latter denied having registered any complaint against him.
National Sports Council has asked NKF to select eight kumite players for eight kumite events and two individual kata events.
NKF has postponed the final selection for coming Sunday. “We´ll ask NOC if they can register Shrestha for kata events in the Asiad. If they can´t register, we have no option other than to stop Diwas Shrestha and Mallika Thapa from participating in the selection round,” said Shiwakoti.
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