The Pakistan men’s football team is all set to compete in the 2023 SAFF Championship after finally being granted visas by the Indian government on Monday.
All India Football Federation secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran confirmed the development on Twitter on Monday night.
See you soon, India! 🙏🏻#wearepakistanfootball #dilsayfootball #shaheens pic.twitter.com/9a3uxiyJuv
— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) June 19, 2023
Shahid Khokhar, a member of the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee, also confirmed the news to Sportstar. The team will fly to Indian from Mauritius where they were competing in a four nations cup.
“I would like to thank (AIFF general secretary) Shaji Prabhakaran and (AIFF president) Kalyan Choubey for doing so much from their end,” Khokhar told Sportstar. “It was thanks to them that we got the visa as quickly as we did. Normally, you get an Indian visa in person only, but we were able to get the visa in Mauritius (where the Pakistan team is playing a four-nation tournament). This allows us to travel directly to India and not have to fly back to Pakistan.”
Pakistan have been scheduled to play hosts India in their first match on June 21, hours after they land in Bengaluru.
The team has competed in all but two editions of the SAFF Championship. While it missed the 2015 edition due to issues within…
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