Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani is unable to procure a visa to travel to Germany, where she is supposed to train and prepare for the upcoming World Championships that will be held in August at Budapest.
Annu Rani, who is a national record holder and had reached the finals of the last two World Championships, trains under famous coach Werner Daniels at Offenburg, Germany.
She is currently in India but has to return to Germany soon to take part in a number of events, which will help her to collect crucial world ranking points and qualify for the World Championship.
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Why is Annu Rani unable to secure a visa?
The athlete claimed that she has a multiple-entry Schengen visa that allows her to stay in Germany for only three months.
Under German law around residence permits, she must then return to India and stay for another three months before she can head back to Germany.
Speaking to Sportstar, Rani appealed to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to help here in this matter on an urgent basis.
She said:
I have a multiple Schengen visa that allows me to stay a maximum of three months in Germany and then come back to India and stay here for 90 days. Only after that, I can go back to Germany.
Now, I can go to Germany only after three months That’s not good because my training will be disturbed. So I want a long-term residence permit or visa that will allow me to stay there till the Paris Olympics. The SAI and the Athletics Federation of India are trying but there has not been any progress so far. I hope the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) helps me in this.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist further added:
I have an invitation for the Paris Diamond League on June 9. And now, all good competitions are going on in Germany and in Europe. I have no visa so how can I go there.
Ranked number 10 in the world at the moment, the ace Indian javelin thrower won the gold medal in the ongoing Federation Cup.
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