The Pakistani football team is expected to receive their visas today for their tour of India, where they are set to participate in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup. The tournament will run from June 21 to July 4 in Bengaluru.
In response to an inquiry regarding the status of the Pakistani team’s visas, All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Secretary General Shaji Parbharkaram communicated via WhatsApp that the matter would be settled “tomorrow.”
The AIFF has been working to secure visas for the Pakistani team, which will be returning to India after a gap of nine years.
Inside sources report that officials of the Pakistani team had planned to collect their passports from the Indian High Commission in Mauritius on Sunday. However, they were instructed by the PFF Normalisation Committee to wait, as the AIFF was still in the process of obtaining their visas.
The Pakistani team was supposed to depart for India on Sunday at 11:30 am, but the lack of issued visas prevented this.
The team management assured the Mauritian football authorities that they would secure the visas by today and were provided accommodation accordingly. The team is staying at the same hotel they occupied during the four-nation football event on Saturday, in which Djibouti won the championship after beating Pakistan 3-1 in the final game.
The players eagerly anticipated the SAFF Cup, but the visa complications caused them significant distress. The source also mentioned that if visa approval is further delayed and the team only arrives in India on Tuesday or early Wednesday, it would be challenging to play their first game against India on June 21.
