The Hindu : Cricket fans seeking visas disappointed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 05, 2004

National

National

Cricket fans seeking visas disappointed

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 4. Confusion prevailed outside the Pakistan High Commission here for the second consecutive day today as a large number of cricket enthusiasts seeking visas to witness the coming series lined up from early morning.

Most of them were turned away by the Pakistani authorities who asked them to bring the acknowledgment slips of their e-tickets for the matches.

The series begins on March 13 when the sub-continent rivals clash in the first one-day international at Karachi. Two special counters have been set up at the High Commission between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The Pakistan High Commission officials have so far accepted only 43 applications for issuing visas.

A senior Pakistani official said the High Commission was short of staff to meet the heavy rush. It was accepting applications for issuing visas only from those who had proper acknowledgement slips for the tickets booked through the Internet.

"After accepting the applications we are verifying the e-tickets from the Pakistan Cricket Board. The entire process is likely to take three to four days, and once the documentation work is complete, we will issue the visas," he said.

The Pakistani authorities, who are likely to issue around 8,000 visas, are confident of issuing a large number in the coming days.

"Our priority as of now is to issue visas to those who have tickets for the one-day matches as test matches will come in the later stages," the official said.

However, a large number of visa-seekers, including those from various States, complained that despite having booked tickets they were turned away after being told that their applications would be accepted only with the PCB's letter and the PIN number confirming that their tickets were valid.

In view of the heavy crowd, the Delhi police have deployed one company in and around the High Commission, besides pressing more PCR vans into service.

Meanwhile, the External Affairs Ministry has asked Indian Airlines, the Indian Railways and the Delhi Transport Corporation to explore the possibility of running extra services on the dates when the matches are played. Interestingly, Northern Railway is reportedly planning to run a `Cricket Special.'

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National