In the latest turn of events, after news broke late at night, reported by the Press Trust of India (PTI), that the Union home ministry had cleared the visas of 34 players and officials of the Pakistan Blind Cricket team, the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) has now released a statement saying that no visas had been issued, and the PTI news was 'misleading'.
On Tuesday (December 7) night, the PTI reported that the Ministry of External Affairs will issue visas to the Pakistani players and officials so that they can travel to India for the December 5-17 tournament. However, the PCBB has now said that this news is completely fake and that the 'misleading news is nothing more than adding salt to the injuries.'
"This deceptive news spread like wildfire in Indian Media and create confusion among masses and sports journalists of both Pakistan and India that India has issued visas to the Pakistan Blind Cricket Team. PBCC has made it clear yesterday that its Ministry of External Affairs India (MEA) denied visas to the Pakistan team on Political Grounds," the statement read.
"The Pakistan Team collected Passports from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad today (7th December 2022) around 2:30 PM after receiving the passport collection e-mail from Indian High Commission, but “no visa” has been issued to the Pakistan team. The misleading news is nothing more than adding salt to the injuries of the already dejected Pakistan Blind Cricket Team.
"This propaganda from Indian State Media is just to mislead the International Sports loving people, Federations and States that India has issued visas and now its Pakistan who doesn’t want to come. The basic objective of this deceptive news is to flatten the immense pressure of International communities on India who condemned and showed their disappointment in denying visas to the Pakistan Blind Cricket Team to participate in the T-20 World Cup Cricket of the Blind on Political Grounds. Pakistan," the release added.
Pakistan's Blind Cricket Team is currently ranked No.1 in T20 Blind Cricket. The upcoming tournament will now see six teams competing for the top honours. Bangladesh, Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and South Africa are the other nations competing in the T20 World Cup.
