KARACHI: The participation of India and Bangladesh in the International Handball Federation (IHF) South and Central Asian Youth and Junior Trophy 2018 to be held in Pakistan was on Tuesday ensured when the Ministry of Interior issued visa letters to the Pakistan’s High Commissions in the respective countries.
“Yes, today the Interior Ministry took a timely step and issued visa letters to the High Commissions of Pakistan in these countries,” a senior official of Pakistan Handball Federation (PHF) told ‘The News’ on Tuesday. “There was great pressure on us as we had to ensure the participation of these nations. We had got a high profile event in which not only six countries are featuring but referees and technical delegates from nine nations are also set to arrive in Faisalabad,” the official said. These nations have already made their reservations and along with Nepal they would be able to get visas in the next few hours, the official informed.
The event will be held from March 10-15 at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad international handball court. Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan are the other nations which are set to take part in the competitions. The under-18 players will compete in the youth and under-20 athletes will feature in the junior category.
The official said that Maldives and Bangladesh would land in Pakistan on Thursday (tomorrow) while India, Afghanistan, Nepal, referees and technical delegates will arrive on Friday. On Wednesday (today) the organisers will meet to discuss important issues of the competitions. The official said that in the meeting it would also be decided who would open and close the event. He said that the touring parties would be boarded in standard hotels at Faisalabad. He said that water-tight security arrangements had been made to hold the event in the most peaceful way.
Last September Pakistan had been awarded the trophy due to the interest of Pakistan Handball Federation’s (PHF) president Mohammad Shafiq, who is also the secretary of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF). The referees who will conduct the competitions include Eial Awad Yaser, Alzyyat Akram (both Jordon), Al Wahibi Khamis, Al Shahi Omar (both Oman), Kawai Norinage, Usui Ken (both Japan), Alsager Mohammed, Al Sugufi Ali Mohammed (both Saudi Arabia), Sultan Mehmood, Asif Ali (both Pakistan). Posavec Josip of Croatia, Zain Al Abedin of Jordon and Ikramov Ulugbek of Uzbekistan will serve as technical delegates.
This is the second time that Pakistan is organising the trophy at Faisalabad. Earlier, it had been held in 2014 at the same venue in which Pakistan junior side had lifted gold. During the competitions a coaches’ course will also be conducted by the IHF expert Ali Raza Habibi from Iran. Mohammad Shafiq has been nominated as representative of the IHF and AHF to supervise this trophy. The opening ceremony and cultural show will be held on March 10 at 6pm. The final of the junior category will be conducted on March 15 at 2:30 pm, followed by closing ceremony at 4pm.