KARACHI: The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has turned down a request from Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to reschedule Wednesday’s India vs Pakistan match in the SAFF Cup.
The PFF had earlier requested the regional football body to reschedule the game after Pakistan’s travel plan was disturbed due to delay in visa issuance.
“As you’re well aware of the visa situation of the Pakistan Contingent travelling to SAFF championship 2023 due to which the contingent will be reaching Bangalore on the morning of 21st, which is the same day as match. Hence, we would like to officially request SAFF to reschedule the match to a later date so the team can have enough time to prepare after a long flight,” the PFF wrote to SAFF in an e-mail earlier.
However, the organisers of SAFF Cup in Bangalore turned down PFF’s request saying that they are not in position to reschedule the match.
“We were very much aware of your visa situation, but as several stakeholders including the broadcasters are involved, we are not in position to reschedule your match on 21st as it may jeopardize the whole championship,” the SAFF replied to PFF.
This means, Pakistan will have to be in action in less than 12 hours after landing in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The Pakistan team flew out of Mauritius at 5:20pm local time on Tuesday and they are schedule to reach Bangalore at 8:00am on Wednesday morning after overnight transit stay in Mumbai.
Pakistan football contingent was earlier scheduled to fly from Mauritius on Sunday but the delay in visa issuance from Indian High Commission in Mauritius dented Pakistan’s travel plans.
The squad was, later, issued visa on Monday evening.
The SAFF Championship will run from June 21- July 4 with India defending their title.
Pakistan will be playing on Indian soil for the first time since 2014.
Pakistan's schedule in SAFF Championship
June 21 - India
June 24 - Kuwait
June 27 - Nepal
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.