They have got the green signal to compete in the Champions League Twenty20, but Faisalabad Wolves players were today forced to shift out of the city after it emerged that their visas were only valid for Mohali.
The team, captained by Pakistan Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, arrived on Saturday after finally getting the visa to travel to India to play in the event starting on Tuesday.
But they were forced to shift out of their hotels here to the clubhouse of Punjab Cricket Association stadium at Mohali due to visa issues.
“The PCA will accommodate them in the clubhouse for today and the BCCI is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Home Ministry to see that they get visa for Chandigarh also. We are hopeful that it will be done by tomorrow and they will be shifted back to the Chandigarh hotel,” PCA Joint Secretary G S Walia told reporters here.
“There are some issues and they are being sorted out,” added Faisalabad coach Naveed Anjum.
Kandurata Maroons of Sri Lanka and Sunrisers Hyderabad are the other two CLT20 teams which are currently based in Chandigarh.
Faisalabad were earlier denied visas on the ground that they faced a security risk in India. It was feared if the Faisalabad Wolves made their way up in the tournament, they would be playing at different cities across India and hence security could have been a problem.
Apart from New Zealand side Otago, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kandurata Maroons are the two other teams that Faisalabad will face in the qualifiers.
Faisalabad will be the second team from Pakistan, after Sialkot Stallions, to take part in the Champions League. The Stallions played the 2012 tournament in South Africa, but failed to qualify for the main round.
