PCB boss Zaka Ashraf has expressed “grave concern and alarm” over continued delays in issuing visas to Pakistani cricket fans and journalists to travel to the World Cup in India. There has been some concern in Pakistan about the delay for some time, and the board has written to the ICC on the issue, but this is the first official statement since the start of the tournament.
Pakistan has already played one match in the World Cup against Netherlands in Hyderabad and will play the second match against Sri Lanka at the same venue on Tuesday. They will then take on India in Ahmedabad on October 14 in perhaps the most anticipated match of the league phase of the tournament. But for now, there appears to be very little Pakistani presence in the stands or in the press box, as there has been in the past.
Mr. Ashraf met with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Cyrus Sajjad Qazi and asked him to take up the issue with the Indian Home Ministry.
“The PCB is extremely disappointed to see that Pakistani journalists and fans continue to face uncertainty regarding obtaining Indian visas to cover Pakistan’s matches at the 2023 ICC World Cup.” the board said in a statement. “Meanwhile, the PCB once again reminded the ICC and BCCI of their respective obligations.
“The PCB has also taken serious note of the security threats reported in the Indian media and has asked the government to assess the safety of players in India. The health and safety of the Pakistan team is of paramount importance. was.”
Former PCB chairman (and ICC chairman) Ehsan Mani said in an interview with an independent Pakistani journalist that the ICC and BCCI have ensured that Pakistani nationals’ visas will not be an issue.
“Countries hosting ICC events sign hosting agreements that clearly state that the host country will facilitate visas for teams, officials, journalists and fans,” Mani said. “The ICC should have ensured that visas would be issued before the event began. Between 2019 and 2021, I have recommended that visa issuance should be expedited in the Board of Governors for both the BCCI and the ICC. Both parties assured us that this would be no problem.”
“This is an ICC event and everything should have been resolved before the World Cup started.”