No special Indian visas for Pakistani fans

Published October 8, 2006

KARACHI, Oct 7: No special visas will be issued to Pakistan cricket fans for the Champions Trophy in India in the wake of the recent Mumbai blasts.

Neither the Indian government nor the BCCI had made arrangements to issue special cricket visas for the Champions Trophy, PCB general manager (logistics) Asad Mustafa said.

“This time whoever wants to go and watch matches at any venue in India will have to apply for Indian visas through normal channels and obtain tickets himself,” he said.

The Indian government had allowed cricket fans to cross the Wagah border to watch matches when Pakistan toured India last year.

But this time no such arrangement was in place neither the Indian board has allowed ticket sales in Pakistan. “We have not approached anyone in India for special arrangements as this is an ICC event and not a bilateral series,” he said.—PPI