Canada eye venue change in visa impasse

Toronto, Jan 29 (AFP) Canada have pleaded with theInternational Cricket Council to help their threePakistan-born players obtain visas to enter India for theWorld Cup which gets underway on February 19.

Vice-captain Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan and HamzaTariq are all still waiting for their India visas.

The delay has prompted Cricket Canada to demand that theschedule, which has the team playing four of their six groupgames in India, be altered so that matches are switched toco-hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka if the problem persists.

In a letter to ICC president Sharad Pawar, Cricket Canadapresident Ranjit Saini requested that all efforts be made tosolve the impasse.

"We seek your kind help and attention to this matter inassisting our players to obtain their visa in Dubai, Dhaka orColombo," said Saini.

"We also do hope that ICC have contingency plans toensure that the matches are played elsewhere if the visa isnot processed on time or rejected all together."

The Canada squad will spend 10 days in Dubai in atraining camp before the tournament begins.

In Dubai they will play warm-up matches against Irelandand Afghanistan before taking on Bangladesh and England inBangladesh in further warm-up clashes.

Canada are in Group A at the World Cup along with holdersAustralia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe andKenya.

Their first match is on February 20 against Sri Lanka atHambantota. (AFP) PM