The Pakistan blind cricket team has not been granted a visa to travel to India for the ongoing Blind Cricket World Cup. In a statement on Tuesday, the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) claimed that the team was unable to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in India. “This unfortunate incident has left the Pakistan blind cricket team in the lurch,” the PBCC said in a statement. “It was very likely that Pakistan and India would have clenched horns in the final of the ongoing World Cup and given the current form of green shirts, Pakistan had great chances of winning the World Cup,” the statement said.
The tournament is scheduled in India from December 5 to 17.
The PBCC said “it strongly condemns this discriminatory act by India as sport should be above regional politics”.
“Our counterpart Blind Cricket Association in India pleaded with their government for permission to enter Pakistan, but nothing was heard,” the PBCC said.
“This discriminatory act will have serious consequences for global blind cricket as we at World Blind Cricket will take strict action against them and may not allow India to host future international events.” Pakistan finished second in the last T20 World Cup for the Blind.
Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) confirmed the development and said it will release an updated tournament schedule as the Pakistan team is not participating.
“The Pakistan blind cricket team will not be able to participate in the ongoing third T20 World Cup for the blind to be held in India, despite CABI taking all required steps to process their visa application,” a statement from CABI said. India, Bangladesh, Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and South Africa remain in the 12-day event.
Matches will be played in Faridabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Indore and Bengaluru where the final will be held.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured video of the day
Ricky Ponting rushed to hospital, feeling unwell during commentary: reports
Topics mentioned in this article
