Street children denied visas for KICS Cup

Team misses this year’s competition but will visit China next month

KARACHI: The Pakistan Street Child World team will not be competing at the Chicago KICS Cup this year as they were unable to receive their US visas on time.

The squad rose to fame after their performance at the 2014 Street Child World Cup where they finished third in the competition; only losing one match – the semi-final in the tournament.

Regardless, they impressed at an international competition; something that can be seldom said about the national side.

Pakistan competed at the KICS Cup last year as well, finishing third on their debut. However, this year, they will miss out on the event which is featuring 14 international teams and 85 domestic teams. The players range in age from eight to 16 years and the games will be played on the Olympic format.

“We will not be going to Chicago this time,” The Azad Foundation Street Child Team Director Itfan Maqbool told The Express Tribune. “We tried to compete there for the second year in a row, but we did not get our visas for the team. It is disappointing.”

Meanwhile, according to the Chicago KICS Cup PR person, Connor Wickens, Pakistan’s participation was highly anticipated in the US. He added that the team is an inspiration for children and that it would have been a great opportunity for all as the tournament is aiming to become the biggest football competition of its kind by 2020.

“We at KICS are all very upset about the Pak Street Children Football Team not being able to make it this year,” Wicken wrote in an email. “They unfortunately did not get their visa. Hopefully, we will see them on the KICS pitches next year.”

Meanwhile, Maqbool informed that the team will travel to China in August where they will compete against Chinese clubs.

“We will be going to China next month,” said Maqbool. “That is very exciting as well. We are in the middle of finalising the details. We’ve never been to China before so this is great.”

The team also went to other international youth competitions like the Norway Cup last year, where they finished third.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2016.

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