Mark Peters, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games chief executive, is hoping that they would reach a common ground with the Australian Government in the next weeks over visa issues, which Louise Martin, CGF (Commonwealth Games Federation) President considered was the biggest risk to the games in 2018.
Insidethegames quotes CGA (Commonwealth Games Associations) as telling it on 10 October that there were concerns with regard to the ongoing Gold Coast 2018 Chef de Mission seminar over the existing visa regulations, as a number of athletes and officials belonging to other countries are not sure if they would be allowed to enter Australia.
Separate applications have to be filed for accreditation and visas as per the Commonwealth Games. In earlier editions of these games, visas were not isolated from the accreditation process. At that time, the visa process used to be handled entirely by team managers, CGAs and Chef de Missions.
If the process is not simplified, Martin said that they were apprehensive that it could lead to some countries opting not to participate in the Games.
Talks would be continuing between the Australian Government and organisers in the next few weeks.
Peters was said that on the first day, they had representatives from the government of Australia's office of sport and from the immigration and border control when visa processes were being explained and discussed.
He added that it was sad that as the world is progressing with threats of various kinds such as terrorism and health issues, most governments have to had to raise the number of questions and data they needed to carry out their checks.
He said that things were not so complex at Melbourne 2006.
They were looking forward to threshing out these issues in the coming weeks with the country's government and are hoping to resolve it as soon as possible, added Peters.
The Games are slated to take place from 4-15 April 2018.
If you are looking to travel to Australia's Gold Coast, get in touch with Y-Axis, a leading firm for immigration services, to apply for a tourist visa.