Visa delay holds up Pakistan hockey players

By Sudheendra Tripathi

MUMBAI: With just four days to go for the Hockey India League (HIL) to begin, a question mark has cropped up over the participation of the Pakistan players in the league. None of the nine players contracted with four HIL franchisees arrived in the country till late Wednesday evening. It was learnt that their arrival has been delayed due to visa issues.

There was no official comment from Hockey India – which is handling the visa process of all the foreign players – on the delay but one of the organizers told TOI that the delay had surprised them. “The home ministry and the ministry of external affairs had given the clearance on Monday (January 7) and we were expecting then to be here by this evening,” he said.

When asked whether the delay had happened because of the killing of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistani armed forces on Tuesday, the official simply said: “We will get to know about this only tomorrow .”

The Pakistani players — Mohammed Rizwan Jr., Mohammed Rizwaan Sr. (Delhi Wave Riders ), Sayeed Kashif Shah (Punjab Warriors ), Shafqat Rasool, Mohammed Irfan (Ranchi Rhinos), Mahmood Tousiq, Mahmood Rashid, Fareed Ahmed and Imran Butt (Mumbai Magicians) — were to land in the country between January 7 and 9.

“We have furnished all the documents required by the Indian Embassy and our respective franchisees as well. I don’t know how and why the procedure got delayed,” Mumbai Magicians’ goalkeeper Imran Butt told TOI from Pakistan. “But I am optimistic that by tomorrow (Thursday) things will get sorted out and we will be on a flight to Mumbai via Delhi,” he added. Imran is Pakistan winger Rehan Butt’s younger brother.

Delhi Waveriders are also waiting for Rizwan Sr and Rizwan Jr to arrive in the Capital. “We are hopeful that the Pakistan players’ visas will be cleared soon. We can’t be sure about anything because of the current controversy over the killing of Indian soldiers. Hockey India has assured us that the visa issues would be resolved by tomorrow and players should be here by Friday,” a source close to the Waveriders said.

“We are not taking care of the visa formalities of the foreign players in the HIL. HI is handling it all. The Pakistanis are expected to arrive together. We have been informed that the players should be here by Friday,” a Jaypee Punjab Warrior official said.
The Ranchi Rhinos are also in the dark about their two players —Rasool and Irfan . “The players were supposed to be here by today… but we are not so sure about their arrival now,” a source close to the Rhinos team said.

All team officials feel that the ball is in Indian government’s court now. UP Warriors, owned by Sahara India, is the only team which did not pick a Pakistani player at the auction.