Pakistan fail to appear in Canadian League

National baseball team suffers due to late arrival of visas.

KARACHI: The Pakistan team failed to participate in the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament due to a delay in the receipt of visas from the Canadian High Commission, disclosed Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) Secretary Syed Khawar Shah.

“Visas for the players were received late, due to which the organising committee of the tournament included another team in place of Pakistan,” Shah told The Express Tribune.

“This was a great opportunity for players to play in the international circuit and get trained by the best coaches, which could have helped their preparations for the Asian Games.”

The Canadian league will be held from July 25 to July 30 at Grand Forks, British Colombia.

Earlier in 2013, the Pakistan side had triumphed in the 11th West Asia Baseball Cup and bettered its world ranking from 23 to 21. As a result, the organising committee of the Grand Forks International Baseball tournament invited them for their yearly event.

“The PFB immediately sent all the required documents to the Canadian High Commission to apply for the team’s visa in the beginning of 2014, but unfortunately it was met with a delay.

“Now since the team is not participating in the tournament, the federation has forwarded all the passports to the Canadian Assembly, who will return the documents to the federation on September 12.”

Pakistan’s next big stop is the Asian Games, which will be held in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4, 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2014.

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