After a nervous delay, the Indian players have received their visas for the prestigious 2024 Candidates Tournament, scheduled to be held in Canada. Earlier, FIDE raised concerns over the delayed process of issuing the visas to the players. However, ten other visas still need to be approved ahead of the tournament which is scheduled to begin on April 3.

Canada issues visas for 2024 Candidates, yet the location remains uncertain

Update on the visa situation for the 2024 Candidates: Since our appeal on Friday, we've received a positive response from Canadian Immigration Authorities. All players and key members of the organizing team have received their visa approvals and notifications to submit their… pic.twitter.com/cU1d6q9iCP

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) March 7, 2024

All Indian participants have received their visa approvals for the 2024 Candidates Tournament, a major international chess tournament scheduled to be held in April in Toronto. The tournament features five Indian players: teen Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa R, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, and Gukesh D in the Open category, and Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy in the Women’s.

Vladimir Drkulec, president of the Chess Federation of Canada, confirmed all of them have had their visas approved and will be able to participate along with those accompanying them along with other Indians like FIDE deputy president and former World champion Viswanathan Anand.

However, the event’s location remains uncertain as three players and an official from other countries are still awaiting their visas. If all the players from other countries do not get their visas approved, the tournament will move to Spain. The deadline for the resolution of the situation is Friday.

“We are down to ten visas still needing approval. There are no Indians on that list,” he said. Speaking about the visa issues for the pending players, Drkulec said, “won’t do any good if we don’t get all the players approved from other countries as the tournament will move to Spain.”

Of the ten visas awaited, three are for participating players and another for an official and those will be necessary to hold the tournament in Toronto.

“I would guess that we have a 50% chance of success. I should know more tomorrow or the next day. We are having issues with getting more attention for this,” Drkulec said.

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