F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan were forced to change their World Cup travel plans as the hosts India continued to politicize the sports and has still not issued visas to the Pakistan squad.
Delay in visa means, Pakistan were forced to cancel their “team-bonding trip” to Dubai.
The Green Shirts were scheduled to fly to Dubai early next week before leaving for India ahead of their first warm-up match against New Zealand on September 29.
However, the team has now planned to fly to Dubai and leave for Hyderabad (India) from there next week on Wednesday, the report said, adding Pakistan are the only one out of nine teams who haven’t been issued their visas yet.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is worried about the situation, has informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) about the delay.
The ICC World Cup is scheduled to begin on October 5.
The sources said that the visas were supposed to be issued on time as per the agreement signed with the regulatory body.
Moreover, the Indian authorities are not providing any information about the issuance of visas for the team and the cricket fans.
The PCB has been in constant contact with the Indian Consulate for the last week. However, the visas were not issued till Friday — the last working day of the week.
