IOA to lodge formal complaint against Pakistan equestrian

New Delhi [India], Feb 10 (ANI): Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra on Monday said the association will lodge a formal complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) against Pakistan equestrian Usman Khan, who has named his horse as 'Azad Kashmir'.
"I also hail from Kashmir. I have studied in Srinagar. Being the IOA president, we find it objectionable. We are studying the matter. We have not lodged a formal complaint with the IOC as we are looking into the matter properly. We will analyse the matter as it is a politically sensitive issue for India," Batra told ANI.
According to Batra, the IOC rules do not allow such political messages in the games.
"As per the IOC, these kinds of activities are not allowed. We will take legal advice, considering the European laws as well. We will then file an objection in due course of time. We will not delay the matter," he added.
Usman is the first Pakistani equestrian to qualify for the Olympics and he changed his horse's name in February 2019.
The IOA president said that sports should be out of such political affiliations as sports is considered as the 'messenger of peace and friendship.'
"The thing which is bothering me is that the name was changed in February 2019 and that was the time when Pulwama incident happened and in retaliation, India went for surgical strikes in Pakistan," said Batra.
Islamabad refers to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir.' (ANI)