Pakistan squad survives visa scare

Squash team hit by visa troubles ahead of world team championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan survived a scare of missing out on the World Squash Team Championship in France as visa issues almost cost them dearly ahead of the mega event.

The team had to postpone its flight for a day after two of the four members of the squad were denied visas.

The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) had applied for visas for Nasir Iqbal, Farhan Mehboob, Farhan Zaman and Sheikh Saqib Yousuf. Interestingly, it also applied for visas for Aamir Atlas and his younger brother Danish.

In an interesting turn of events, the visas of Saqib and another important player were rejected, while Aamir and Danish, who were not named in the initial four-man squad, received theirs. Danish left the trials midway due to sickness.



The PSF made last-ditch attempts to persuade Aamir and Danish to join the team but, while Danish agreed, Aamir declined the offer.

Danish travelled from Peshawar to Islamabad to join the squad; while in the meantime, the PSF involved the foreign ministry and the Pakistan Air Force to resolve the visa issue.

Their efforts paid dividends as the two players were issued visas, leaving Danish’s fate hanging in the balance with PSF Secretary Abdul Wahab Marwat stressing that only initially named players will travel.

“There was a misunderstanding but everything is resolved and the same team will travel,” Marwat told The Express Tribune. “Danish wouldn’t be able to travel with us because we can’t take an extra player. So it’ll be the four players, coach Jamshed Gul and me as manager who will travel to France.”

Meanwhile, the travelling team has lamented the uncertainty and the handling of events by the federation before the championship.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.