Fact Check: Who was responsible for Pakistan Football Team's visa issues and late arrival? Not India for sure

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The Pakistan football team have indicated late arrival in India as a result of their dismal start to the SAFF Championship 2023.

Pakistan started their SAFF campaign in a horrific manner against India as they were blown away 4-0 by the Sunil Chhetri-led Blue Tigers. Chhetri himself scored a hattrick to leave the arch-rivals at the Kanteerava Stadium with only despair.

After the match, Pakistan players and coach Torben Witajewski directly pointed out a lack of preparation and late arrival in the host country as reasons for their poor first match show.

"The problem about the travel was we received the visa very late and a lot of problems in Mumbai at the airport with the immigration. So it was tough for the guys. The last group arrived at half past one in the hotel today (Wednesday). After 16 hours, right. So this is not easy, it's very tough but you have to cope with the situation. You cannot change it," the Pakistan coach was quoted by Hindustan Times.

It was a true incident as Pakistan players could only reach merely hours ago from the kickoff. They were in Mauritius playing in a friendly tournament and came to Mumbai on Wednesday early hours. The team had to split up due to lack of seat availability for their flight to Bengaluru.

"For sure, we couldn't change the situation, the problem is the visa. So it was not easy, but we cannot change. But if we had more time the performance would be different. If you travel through the night, the players cannot sleep. We arrived today at half past one, it's not good preparation for a match," he added.

The Pakistan team came to India around 1:00 am on Wednesday and their 32 staff members couldn't find seats on a single flight to Bengaluru. The first set of players boarded a 4:00 am flight to Bengaluru but the second team could only get a flight around 9:15 am from Mumbai due to immigration clearance issues.

The second team reached the Bengaluru hotel around 1:00 pm, merely six hours before their match against India.

But a team coming to India for a sub-continental tournament should have been well prepared regarding their itinerary. The visa and immigration issues only took a toll on the Pakistan team because they had reached only 18 hours before the match, which clearly depicts the lack of professionalism from the Pakistan football federation.

But the bigger problem also lies in the Pakistan government, which only granted NOC for their team to enter India on June 15. The Pakistan football federation applied for NOC on May 25, and upon the team arriving in India so late, the Indian government was courteous enough to accelerate their visa clearance.

The next two Tweets and the dates will give you an indication how things unfolded in Pakistan, as the government cleared NOC at the wee hours.

Hence the sole responsibility for this bizarre and unfortunate chain of events lies with the Pakistan government and their sports authority, who failed to ensure the needs for their own players.

The Pakistan Football Federation also released a social media statement and extended their gratitude to the AIFF for their participation in the SAFF 2023.