Uncertainty looms over Pakistan's participation in World Games due to delay in visa issuance
Snooker and Ju-Jitsu bodies issued public statements on Thursday expressing their concerns over delay in visa
KARACHI: Pakistan's Snooker and Ju-Jitsu athletes are uncertain about their participation in this year’s World Games, scheduled to be held in America, due to difficulties in visa issuance.
Governing bodies of both – Snooker and Ju-Jitsu – issued public statements on Thursday expressing their concerns over delay in visa due to backlog at US consulate in Karachi. The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) has also sought help from Foreign Office.
The PBSA said in a statement that its chairman Alamgir Sheikh had a meeting with foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood and discussed the matter related to Pakistan’s participation in World Games 2022. The meeting was also attended by DG (Americas) Muhammad Mudassir Tipu.
“The chairman explained the problem faced by the Pakistan snooker team, in obtaining an early appointment for their visas. The Chairman requested the Foreign Secretary to help the Pakistan snooker team regarding the matter,” the PBSA statement said.
“The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Sohail Mahmood, graciously agreed to help the Pakistan snooker team to obtain their visas in time, for their travel to the USA,” the statement added.
Pakistan’s Ahsan Ramzan had qualified for the World Games, Snooker event, after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in March earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ju-Jitsu team is also uncertain about participation in the multisport event in USA’s city Birmingham in Alabama state and will feature athletes from over 100 countries.
Pakistan's highly talented Jujitsukas Dilawar Khan Sannan and Isra Waseem qualified to represent Pakistan in the event.
An official of PJF said that they’re still waiting to hear from US consulate over visa issues.
"Dilawar and Isra’s participation in the duo mixed category of the ju-jitsu discipline at the Games was confirmed by the organizers in the last week of March and we had submitted visa applications in the US Consulate in Karachi well in time but so far we’ve not received any call for the interviews," said Tariq Ali, the Associate Secretary of PJF.
“But now we fear to miss the event,” he added.
Tariq also had to accompany the athletes as manager-cum-coach.
"Qualifying for The World Games is not an easy task. Our duo made a cut to the event on continental quota after putting up impressive shows in different events including world rankings, continental championships and world championships,” he concluded.
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