ROME STUDENT GAMES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28980, 22 August 1959, Page 4

ROME STUDENT GAMES

Temporary Visas For Chinese

(N.Z Press Association—Copyright) ROME, August 19.

Communist Chinese and North Korean athletes will be given temporary Italian entry permits to compete as individuals but not as national teams in Turin’s World Student Games next week, an Italian Foreign Office spokesman said tonight. The spokesman said regular visas could not be given to athletes who officially represented countries not recognised by Italy, such as Communist China and North Korea. The Communist-dominated International Union of Students in Prague had delivered an ultimatum saying it would call on all Communist countries’ teams to boycott the games unless the Chinese and North Koreans were given permission to enter. It was not immediately known whether the offer of temporary entry permits would be regarded as satisfactory by the athletes concerned and by the union in Prague. The French students’ athletic union had'also threatened to boycott the games unless the visas were granted. If Communist countries boycott the games it will mean the loss of about 500 athletes and a great part of the meeting’s interest.