By Imran Ali Teepu

ISLAMABAD, Sept 14: The Indian High Commission here issued visas to Pakistan volleyball players late in the evening to travel to India for the third Asian Central Zone Championship.

The squad will leave for the event on Wednesday which will run from Sept 16 to 20 in Kolkata.

Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) secretary Major Afzal told Dawn on Tuesday: “The Indian High Commission has earlier refused to grant visas to Pakistani players as security of the players was not cleared by their home ministry. “However, the staff of the High Commission informed the federation in the afternoon that they have got security clearance for the squad and visas can be obtained from them.”

The PVF official added: “It was a tough day for us as several players have already left for their homes.

“The players were continuously training at the Pakistan Sports Complex and could not join their families on Eid holidays. We allowed them to proceed to their homes after the refusal of visas from the High Commission.

“It was quite tough for us. We asked everyone to return to the camp later in the day.”

Commenting on the current tour, he said: “The tour is a build-up for the Asian Games scheduled to be held in China in November this year.”

The official said that since top teams like Iran, Kazakhstan and India would be competing, it would be a tough competition.

He said Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives are the other three teams participating in the event.

The official added that national squad would also participate in the Al-Rashid Cup in Dubai.

He said: “The Dubai event will also be an advantage for the players and hopefully the two events, in India and Dubai, will place the squad in the Asian Games at a better position.”

Our Sports Reporter from Lahore adds: “Now our team will cross the Wagah Border on foot instead of crossing it by bus, which was our initial plan,” the secretary said.

“We will play our first match on Friday,” he said.

He said the PVF had been struggling to get the India visas for the last one week.

He added that the Indian Volleyball Federation had been asked to make necessary arrangements for the player’s travelling to New Delhi from Wagah Border where they will get a direct flight for Kolkata.

The secretary said the PVF had lost Rs30,000 which it had paid to reserve the seats for the players on the official Indo-Pak friendship bus.

The Pakistan squad comprises 12 players and three officials. Squad:

Zaheer Abbas (captain), Shahrukh, Aimal Khan, Ismail Khan, Munir Khan, Farooq Khan, Nasir Khan, Mohib Rasool, Imdad Hussain, Shuja Abad, Zahid Bashir, Asif Nadeem.

Officials: Augsto Sabbatini (coach), Mazar Hussain (assistant coach), Mohammad Farooq (manager).