An Asian Games news conference attended by officials of the Olympic Council of Asia and organizing committee in Hangzhou on September 22, 2023. Photo: Cui Fandi/GT

The recent reports of three Indian athletes encountering visa and entry issues ahead of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou have been brought to notice to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the OCA said Friday. However, applicable visas had been granted to all of them before they chose to refuse the visas, said OCA officials. 

The Honorary Life Vice President of the OCA Wei Jizhong, clarified during Friday's news conference that applicable visas were already granted to the three athletes by the Chinese embassy, which can be used to enter China.

It was the athletes that refused to accept the visas, Wei told the news conference.

China has not refused any visa applications from the Asian Games athletes, Wei said, while noting that the Chinese government has the right to give the applicants different kinds of visas.

Vinod Kumar Tiwari, acting director general of the OCA, said that the OCA has been taking up the matter with the Organizing Committee and hopes to find a solution very quickly.

An earlier report by the AFP claimed that three Indian martial arts athletes were "forced to pull out of the Asian Games after not receiving clearance from the host country."

The three women wushu fighters are from the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh," the media report said. The region was founded illegally in the last century and occupies about 90,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory.

In response to media reports about three Indian athletes who have been barred from the Games, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday that as the host country, China welcomes athletes from all countries to come to Hangzhou to participate in the Asian Games with legal documents. 

When it comes to the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh," the Chinese government doesn't recognize it. Zangnan (southern part of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region) is part of China's territory, Mao said.