Afghanistan team reaches Pakistan for Asian Cup Qualifiers

KARACHI: The Afghanistan men’s football team has reached Pakistan for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers match, scheduled to be played at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad on Thursday.

According to the details, a total of 16 players of Afghanistan's squad reached Islamabad on Tuesday evening via Dubai, while as many members are set to reach the capital at midnight.

Meanwhile, three members of the Afghanistan squad, which reached Peshawar, will travel to Islamabad by road to link up with the contingent.

Notably, the Afghanistan squad, which had failed to acquire Pakistan visas in time, was eventually awarded special permission to cross the border after interior minister Mohsin Naqvi took notice.

As a result, the Afghanistan team began its journey to Pakistan.

The visa debacle arouse due to administrative lapses by the Afghanistan Football Federation, which submitted the applications late on September 27, just 11 days before the scheduled match.

Until Tuesday evening, several Afghan players had yet to receive Pakistani visas, with sources claiming that only 10 players and three officials were issued visas last week after completing biometric verification at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul, while the majority of the team, based outside Afghanistan, remain without clearance.

Under AFC competition regulations, teams must apply for host country visas at least 30 days in advance. Pakistan’s football authorities received the visa reference number on October 2, after which they immediately alerted government departments.

Not only the visa applications were submitted late, but the information about players' interviews and biometric locations on the applications were also incorrect, according to sources.

PFF sources say the process could have been managed despite the delay, but what created the problem was that the visa applications were mentioning Afghanistan as the biometric location for all players, including those residing abroad. As a result, only players who completed their biometrics in Kabul were issued visas.