The inspired choices of Iran, Myanmar and India for this years events show that safety is not exactly top of the list with the IBSF. Iran at the best of times was a questionable choice since from the start it would not allow Ladies to compete and of course Israeli competitors. It's current escalating violence must surely be making the IBSF board sit up and take notice. Myanmar for the Billiards event will always be a strange choice, no explanation needed there I think but this may now be switched to Japan. While the best of the three choices India has had trouble with safety in recent times and is not 100% safe for western visitors.
Fair enough if no other countries are willing to host events then all options have to be looked at but Iran must now be considered in danger as countries start pulling out. Already the Republic of Ireland have made the decision to pull out it's players from the event due to both safety concerns and the fact that Iran would not accept any entries from Israel. Many more countries may follow suit in the coming weeks and the World Under-21 may yet again be a casualty of poor planning.
