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KARACHI The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has disclosed that it has still been unable to acquire visas for its 16-member Europe-bound squad and is thinking of calling off the entire tour scheduled for Sept 25 to Oct 9 if things remain stagnant after the French embassy reopens on Thursday (Sept 24) following the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
'Well, we are still hoping that we'll be able to get the Schengen visas enabling us to ravel freely through Europe but if we don't get the visa in the next four or five days, we'll have to cancel the tour altogether as there is no use in going to and coming back from Europe in such a short time when we have to go there again in a month for the World Cup qualifiers,' said the national team's chief coach Shahid Ali Khan while speaking to Dawn on Wednesday.
The team was to travel to France on Sept 24 to play three Tests with the hosts on the 27th, 28th and 30th to be followed by two Tests against Poland (Oct 3 and 4) and three against Belgium (Oct 6, 7 and 8).
'Even if we get the visas by Oct 1, we can still play France and Belgium after some rescheduling while dropping Poland from our programme but everything really depends on our getting the visas,' he added on being asked if getting their travel papers in order in the next four or five days would even be good enough.
The team, according to the previous schedule, was to return to Pakistan around Oct 9 after which the federation planned holding fresh trials on the 15th and 16th. The team is to feature in the World Cup qualifiers (Oct 31-Nov 8) in Lille, France and is scheduled to leave again for France on Oct 23.
Meanwhile, PHF secretary Asif Bajwa, when asked about the visa delay, said that 'Getting a Schengen visa is a six-week-long procedure involving accepting of applications and meetings with the applicants, etc. Even we weren't expecting it to take so long but we are told that it is all normal and routine stuff.'
Bajwa laughed it off when asked if the French embassy was being extra cautious about giving visas to the Pakistan hockey team due to it being tainted as a result of other unfortunate incidents in the past where a few members of the squad had slipped while on a tour of Italy, another Schengen state.
'Of course not! That's not it at all. Even the French Hockey Association is eagerly awaiting our arrival in France. They informed us that they were unaware of the fact that the procedure took so long in Pakistan and they have also involved their ministry in our case,' he explained.
But concurring with what coach Shahid said earlier, he added 'Yes, if we don't get the visas by Oct 1, we will have to think about cancelling this entire tour rather than rescheduling the matches.'
Bajwa also said that they were getting visas for visiting Poland where they are to play two Tests but that visa is not a Schengen visa which could enable them to visit France and Belgium as well.
'In case of the tour's cancellation, we will directly go to France for the qualifiers, perhaps a week or two earlier than previously planned, to play three warm-up matches with the hosts there,' he concluded.
