Foreign Office to take up visa issue with Kuwait

Sources informed ‘The News’ that the executive committee members of PSF were told in its meeting held on Wednesday that PSF has taken up this issue with the Foreign Office.

“The secretary of the country’s Foreign Office has asked PSF to provide them in writing the whole issue, and then they will talk to Kuwait’s government about this,” he added.

Kuwait recently denied visas to five Pakistani squash players for $10,000 IKEA International Squash 2012. The players were Farhan Mehboob, Nasir Iqbal, Aqib Hanif, Waqas Mehboob, and Syed Hamza Shah Bukhari.

The Foreign Office said the Kuwait government had promised not to make visa rules for the Pakistanis stricter during a recent visit by the Prime Minister. “So denying visas to a group of Pakistani squash players creates concern for the government of Pakistan,” the committee members were told. Meanwhile, the committee decided that from now on the visa issues of players would be handled by a special department of Air Force, said a source.

A provincial squash association had suggested that a special officer should be appointed to deal with the visa issues.

The PSF has been criticised by squash players for its inefficient handling of their visa issues.

Secretary PSF Abdul Wahab Marwat reportedly has written a letter of protest to the Kuwait Squash Federation, while the players are also reported to have sent a legal notice to Kuwait embassy demanding reasons for not issuing visas to them.

Posted in: Sports