The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was upset again on Monday that Pakistani fans and media still can’t get Indian visas, even though the World Cup 2023 has been going on for almost a week. The big cricket tournament started on October 5, but Pakistanis still don’t have visas to go to the World Cup because the Indian government hasn’t given them any yet.
PCB ‘very unhappy’ about visa delays ahead of World Cup 2023
The board said in a statement that Zaka Ashraf, Chairman of the PCB Management Committee, called Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi and told him about the delay in fans’ and reporters’ visas for India to cover the World Cup. He was very worried and concerned about the situation. The PCB said that Ashraf also asked the foreign secretary to talk to India’s Home Ministry about the problem through the Pakistan High Commission Office in New Delhi.
ICC law says that the host country has to give fans and reporters passes so they can cover the events. However, India has not responded to Pakistan’s complaints. The statement said that the board was very upset to see that Pakistani media and fans are still not sure how to get an Indian visa to cover Pakistan’s games in the ICC World Cup 2023. In the meantime, PCB reminded ICC and BCCI again of their duties and the terms and conditions set out in the Host agreement to make sure that fans and reporters of teams that are competing could get visas.
According to the statement, the PCB has also paid close attention to reports of security risks in Indian media and asked the government to look into how safe it is for players in India. During his talk with the foreign secretary, Ashraf stressed how important it was for the Pakistan squad to be healthy and safe.
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the acting prime minister, said in a recent interview that politics should stay out of sports. “We would have issued visas to Indians if the World Cup was held in Pakistan,” the leader said. He also said that politics and sports should stay separate.
