‘Extremely disappointed,’ says Pakistan due to delay in Indian visa for Pakistani fans, journalists amid ICC World Cup
As Pakistan is on India's prior reference category (PRC) list, the visa application of Pakistani journalists needed to be approved by home, external affairs and sports ministries.
Amid the ongoing ICC cricket World Cup in India, many Pakistani fans and journalists are facing issues in getting Indian visa. Addressing the problem, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Oazi was requested to discuss the issue with the Indian Home Ministry and Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, said Pakistan Cricket Board in a statement.
The statement was issued after PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf discussed the issue with Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi on Monday. The Pakistani board also expressed its disappointment on the delay of the issuance of visa to Pakistani citizens.
“PCB is extremely disappointed to see that journalists from Pakistan and fans are still facing uncertainty about obtaining an Indian visa to cover Pakistan games in ICC World Cup 2023,” said PCB in its statement.
“In the meantime, PCB has again reminded ICC and BCCI of their respective obligations and terms and conditions stipulated in the Host agreement to guarantee visas for fans and journalists of participating teams,” the statement said.
As Pakistan is on India’s prior reference category (PRC) list, the visa application of Pakistani journalists needed to be approved by home, external affairs and sports ministries.
The ICC is the organiser of the event hosted by the BCCI. So far around 60 journalists are waiting to travel to India for the ODI cricket championship. Pakistan played their opening match against Netherlands on October 6 and faced Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The much awaited match against India will take place in Ahmedabad on October 14.
Fans who are looking to buy tickets for Pakistan vs India match, can purchase the ticket online on the sale of the ticket by BCCI. The Indian cricket board is set to relase 14,000 tickets for India vs Pakistan league match on October 14,2023. The information of the ticket sale was given by the board on X, formerly known as Twitter.
THe sale of the match tickets will start from 12 pm IST onwards on October 8, 2023. Cricket fans can purchase tickets by visitng the official ticketing website at https://tickets.cricketworldcup.com.
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