KARACHI, Feb 22: Pakistan hockey team members Mohammad Sarwar and Adnan Maqsood will miss the flight to Madrid for the Olympic qualifiers because of visa problems.
The pair are expected to leave either on Tuesday or Wednesday after being issued visa by the Spanish embassy in Islamabad, while Pakistan squad is scheduled to leave for the Spanish city early Monday morning.
Officials said delay in Sarwar's visa was caused since Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) applied for it late, after a practice match with PTCL on Feb 17, while there was some complication in Adnan's visa paperwork.
Team manager Dr Yousuf Baig said on Sunday Sarwar and Adnan were likely to be issued visa in a couple of days and they would join the squad probably on Feb 25.
"There is some problem with Adnan's documents, while there is a delay (in visa) in Sarwar's case as we applied for it a bit late. The Spanish embassy is expected to grant the visas on Monday or Tuesday," said manager.
Sarwar has staged a comeback after being forced to retire by the PHF after last year's Champions Trophy trials in July. Coach Roelant Oltmans inducted him into the squad, overruling selectors' decision.
Meanwhile, full-back Ali Raza is facing back problem but officials expect he would recover before the competition. "Ali is having some back muscles problem. He is 95 per cent fit, but we believe he will fully recover before the start of the event," Yousuf, who is also a doctor, said.
Oltmans, who left for his home, The Netherlands, on Feb 18, after wrapping up the training camp in Lahore, will join the squad in Spain. Pakistan, going through the ignominy of qualifying for August's Athens Olympics for the first time in history, are scheduled to play a practice match against England on Feb 25.
They face Canada on March 2 in the opening match of the 12-nation qualifying round. Top seven nations of the qualifiers will book a ticket to the Greek city.
