The Pakistan football team could receive Indian visas on Monday, June 19, ahead of the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru.
The tournament will run from June 21- July 4 with Pakistan set to face India on the opening day.
“The visa applications of Pakistan players will be processed on Monday and they will be able to land in Bengaluru on Monday night or Tuesday morning well in time for the fixture,” a top Karnataka State Football Association official told Press Trust of India on condition of anonymity.
It must be noted that the Pakistan team was scheduled to fly for India from Mauritius, where they participated in a four-nation tournament recently, on Sunday (today) at 11:30am but according to sources they were told by the Indian authorities to reschedule their departure and delay it until Monday.
Meanwhile, the SAFF General Secretary Anwarul Haque has confirmed that the upcoming match between Pakistan and India can’t be rescheduled.
While speaking to News9 Sports, Haq also said that matches of Pakistan team could be cancelled if they don’t arrive in time for the tournament.
“The match is on Wednesday. Hopefully they can come by tomorrow (Monday),” Haq said.
“The match can’t be scheduled. It is out of the question because then it would mean rescheduling of the other matches, which is impossible.
“In case they can’t come, we have to cancel Pakistan’s matches.”
Pakistan's schedule in SAFF Championship
June 21 - India
June 24 - Kuwait
June 27 - Nepal