Bahrain’s national jiu jitsu team have returned from Aktau, in Kazakhstan, where they were scheduled to take part at the Third Asian Championship held recently.
The team were held at Aktau Airport for more than 14 hours due to confusion in determining the place of visa issuance.
The Asian Sport Jiu Jitsu Federation directed members of the team to receive their visas from Aktau airport, while specialists at the airport told the team that their visas are located at another airport, at ‘Almaty’, which prevented the team from taking part in the championship.
But Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs representative, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president, took an immediate action that helped the team obtain the entry visas.
Unfortunately, for the delegation, the organising committee decided to expel the team from the competition as they were unable to attend the draw despite efforts from the Bahraini team officials to explain the circumstances that led to the incident.
Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar welcomed the team on return.
Askar expressed his gratitude to Shaikh Nasser for facilitating the team’s entry visas after arrangements with the Bahrain embassy in Ankara, in Turkey, and the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports.
On his part, Bahrain Self Defence Association president Ahmed Al Khayyat thanked Shaikh Nasser, the Bahrain embassy in Turkey and the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports for their efforts to solve the team’s situation at the airport.