India is all set to take on Pakistan in the opening match of the SAFF Championship 2023, in Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium. However, the visitors found themselves in a crisis ahead of the game, as many of their players landed in Bengaluru on the day of the match itself.
The Pakistani players' visas were approved on Tuesday, 20 June, when they were in Mauritius. After the visa hindrance was solved, the Pakistani players left for Mumbai at around 5:30 pm, and landed at around 1:30 am. With 32 tickets being unavailable on a single flight, the Pakistani team management divided the squad into two groups.
While the first group successfully caught their flight and left for Bengaluru, the second group, which had 14 players, including some of the key players, missed their flight.
Hasnain Haider, Pakistan's team manager, told ESPN, “We landed in Mumbai at 1:30 am, but there were no officials at the passport control office. They came after 30 minutes and gave us a few forms to fill out including the visa form, which we had already filled and submitted to the authorities before arriving in Mumbai.”
He further added, “The process took quite some time and the first group just about managed to board their flight at 3:55 am [six players and six team officials]. However, the second group [14 players and six officials] missed their flight because their forms took longer to be approved.”
Postponement Request Denied by SAFF
The Pakistan management then had to book another flight for the group that missed their flight. They managed to book 20 tickets for a flight scheduled for 9:15 am from Mumbai and the team successfully landed in Bengaluru.
However, the 17 hours of travel and lack of rest can prove to be a massive challenge for the Pakistan team to play. The team had earlier requested SAFF to delay the match, but their request was denied owing to possible scheduling problems.
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