Two Pakistani footballers Muhammad Sohail and Adeel Younus could not travel to Jordan for their FIFA World Cup Qualifier match against the Asian Cup finalists due to a delay in issuing their passports.
According to sources, left-back Muhammad Sohail, who plays for KRL, applied for a visa in another embassy and could not get his passport back in time to travel to Jordan.
Sohail came on as a substitute in the 79th minute against Jordan in the home match that was held in Jinnah Stadium but due to passport issues, he could not travel to Jordan for the away match.
Adeel Younus, who represents Popo FC in Pakistan’s domestic circuit, started the game against Jordan in Islamabad but could not travel to Jordan for the away game because reportedly his passport was made on the B-Form and the player has just turned 18.
Reportedly, the 18-year-old had to make a new passport and CNIC because according to rules and regulations of the Pakistan government, once a citizen turns 18, their passport that has been made based on B-form automatically expires and then that individual has to apply for a new passport with a national identity card.
Administrative issues have always brought hurdles in Pakistan football whether it be the delay in the issuance of passports of diaspora players in Adil Nabi and Etzaz Hussain’s case or local players like Adeel Younus and Muhammad Sohail, the government of Pakistan and certain Pakistani embassies have left no stone unturned to cause problems for the players.
The government of Pakistan’s main job is to facilitate the players but instead of making things easier for its athletes. The government continuously causes problems for them and pushes them into the nitty gritty of administrative rules.
