Italy denies visa to Bangladesh U20 chess team

In a bizarre incident, Bangladesh’s junior chess team that was slated to participate in the Under 20 World Chess Championship in Sardinia in Italy was denied visa. The visas were denied to seven players—two boys and five girls on the ground that they may flee and not return to Bangladesh.

The Under-20 level tournament for FIDE will be held between October 11 and 23.

Bangladesh’s chess federation member and team leader Mahmuda Chowdhury, who also met the Italian ambassador in Dhaka, said that the application was not given any “importance” , the Business Standard (Bangladesh) said in a report.

“We submitted all the documents to the embassy. A letter from the World Chess Federation FIDE was also sent to the embassy giving details. They did not give any importance to that letter,” the newspaper quoted Chowdhury as saying.

“The ambassador did not want to talk to me properly. He said that Bangladeshis go to Italy and never come back. Therefore, the Bangladesh chess team will not be given a visa. No other documents or recommendations will work. I never had such an experience in life,” she said.

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