India pulls out of baseball event in Pakistan over visa issues

March 18, 2012 | Sports | Written by

Islamabad, Mar 18: India has reportedly pulled out of the South West Asia Baseball Cup, scheduled to start in Lahore from March 23, due to visa issues.

The tournament will now feature Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan besides the hosts, The Express Tribune reports.

Pakistan Baseball Federation (PBF) Secretary Pervaiz Shah Khawar said that the India officials failed to send in the required documents ahead of the tournament, a qualifier for the Asian Championship in October, after citing visa issues as the reason.

However, Khawar did not buy the excuse, saying that the PBF had taken care of all the arrangements including getting the approval from the country’s interior ministry.

“It’s their loss. India haven’t been serious about their participation and now they’ve stated visa issues. It’s their internal matter and we can’t do anything,” Khawar said.

“If they don’t’ participate their ranking will go down. But it means we’ll have less competition and we can make the cut for the Asian Championship,” he added. (ANI)