Courtesy: Google
T he ongoing U17 and U21 World Junior Snooker Championships is hit with visa controversy. Apparently, even after the tournament has started, the Pakistan contingent of players and officials are yet to get a visa from India. For the unversed, the tournament is currently being played at Billiard Hall, KSBA in Bengaluru.
Three players from the South Asian country, Ahsan Ramazan, Hasnain Akhtar, and Hamza Illyas were supposed to play in the tournament in various categories. Apart from them, referee Naveed Kapadia also faced visa rejection despite being nominated by the International Billiards & Snooker Federation.
Following these incidents, Alamgir Sheikh, a senior Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) stated that the organization had applied for the visa timely. He added that as the visas didn’t arrive, the players and the officials holding Pakistani passports couldn’t travel.
"We had applied to the Indian High Commission on time after getting all NOCs from our government and Pakistan Sports Board. But they didn't issue visas due to which our squad could not travel to Bengaluru," Sheikh said, as quoted by PTI.
In response to visa denials, the PBSA has lodged a complaint with IBSF (International Billiards & Snooker Federation) and Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI).
U17 and U21 World Junior Snooker Championships tournament schedule:
Men's Under-17 Championship:
Referees and players’ meeting at the Venue on 23 August 2024 at 7:00 PM.
Matches will start on the 24 August 2024 (final on 27 August 2024)
Women Under-21 Championships:
Referees and players’ meeting at the Venue on 24 August 2024 at 8:00 PM.
Matches will start on the 25 August 2024 (final on 28 August 2024)
Men Under-21 Championships:
Referees and players’ meeting at the Venue on 26 August 2024 at 8:00 PM.
Matches will start on the 27 August 2024 (final on 31 August 2024)
With that, just five days are left before the tournament comes to a conclusion. It looks highly unlikely that the Indian visas will be cleared for Pakistan team in such a short space of time.
