Visa rejection forces Pakistan to skip Asian Squash Championship

Pakistan were forced to cancel their participation in the upcoming Asian Squash Championship in Chennai, India after their visas were rejected.

Farhan Mehboob, Farhan Zaman, Tayyab Aslam and Waqar Mehboob were scheduled to fly across the border from Islamabad on Monday.

The Indian High Commission rejected the visas for the national squash team following failure in getting the security clearance from the related authorities, a Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) official said.

The PSF will record it’s protest at both on the Asian and world level, he added. He said they were discussing all the options available and were not sure whether they were pulling out of the event because the players had worked really hard for this tournament.

He suggested India to refrain from mixing politics with sports.

The event kicks off on April 26 and will feature all Asian sides bar Pakistan.

The championships will be played out in single knockout format. For the main draw, there will be no play-off for third position or any other position. Third place trophy will be presented to both losing semi-finalists of main draw.