India's only Olympic track and field champion, Chopra took to social media to clarify the situation, saying that the invites had already been sent before the attacks took place
After being brutally trolled for sending out an invitation to reigning Olympic javelin throw champion Arshad Nadeem to come to India for NC Classic tournament, Neeraj Chopra has broken his silence and come out hard at trolls for "questioning his integrity". (More Sports News)
Nadeem will not be coming to India for the tournament as he has "other commitments". His decision came after the Pahalgam terror attack where over 25 people have been killed. Chopra was hurled abuses on the Internet after the attack as he had sent an invitation to the Pakistani athlete as well.
India's only Olympic track and field champion, Chopra took to social media to clarify the situation, saying that the invites had already been sent before the attacks took place.
“There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse. They haven’t even left my family out of it," Chopra explained. "The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events. Invites had gone out to all athletes on Monday, two days before the terrorist attacks at Pahalgam."
“After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad라이브 바카라 presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question. My country and its interests will always come first. To those that are going through the loss of their people, my thoughts and prayers are with you,” he added.
The NC Classic tournament will see the elites of the javelin throw world unite in India for the first time for a competition of this level. It is classified as a World Athletics ‘A’ category or Continental Tour Gold-level event. The NC Classic will also serve as a crucial qualification event for the World Athletics Championships 2025, scheduled in Tokyo from September 13 to 21. The tournament was originally supposed to take place in Panchkula but will now be hosted at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
The tournament also elevates Chopra to the level of top athletes in other track and field events like Mondo Classic, Keely Klaasic, Usain Bolt International which are named after some of world's best in their discipline.