PESHAWAR, Feb 7: The Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad has asked the Federal Investigation Agency to check human smuggling that, it alleges, is being carried out in the garb of sports teams, notably tae kwondo and judo.

Sources told Dawn that the embassy had sent a letter to the FIA passport circle in Rawalpindi, saying that some tae kwondo and judo teams recently visited Norway ostensibly to take part in a competition. But their members did not return after the event, it stated.

The embassy urged the FIA to interrogate the management of such clubs and verify credentials of players who had applied for visas to take part in tournaments in Western countries, the sources said.

Some 'players' had applied for visas to compete in a tae kwondo tournament in Finland, while another team wanted to participate in a judo tournament in Sweden, the Norwegian Embassy told the FIA.

The Latvian police arrested 10 Pakistani nationals on Nov 21, 2003, on the charge of terrorism, whereas they were believed to be illegal immigrants who arrived in Latvia to take part in a tae kwondo tournament.

"It is true that many people go abroad under the cover of attending sports events in European countries," said a senior FIA official.

Deputy Director of FIA passport circle, Rawalpindi, Akbar Khan Hoti told Dawn by telephone that the agency had identified managements of those clubs whose teams recently visited Norway but did not return even after losing their matches in the first round.

"They were not genuine sportsmen and we will certainly net all those who are involved in human smuggling in the garb of attending sporting events abroad," he stated.

The FIA official declined to give more details, saying the people involved in the illegal practice might go underground. However, a sports body official also blamed organizers of sport events for such a situation.

"This is the responsibility of those who invite non-genuine players to their countries for sports events," said Rehmat Gul Afridi, a national-level coach and general secretary of Wushu Association which teaches Chinese martial art.

Mr Afridi said he visited many countries with his team and took part in karate tournaments, but on all occasions he and his team returned.

The embassy should not stop genuine players from attending tournaments abroad, rather it ask sponsors of tournaments to invite only genuine players, he said. However, he admitted that in the past many karate players had gone to Japan and stayed there after the expiry of the visas.