Pakistan issues NOCs to India for West Asia Cup

The Indian team has been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to participate in the 15th West Asia Baseball Cup, confirmed the Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) on Tuesday.

The event is scheduled to take place in Islamabad from January 26 to February 1.

"NOC letters have been received from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination. They have been sent to India Baseball Federation Secretary Harish Kumar," PFB president Fakhar Ali Shah said.

"The passports of the Indian contingent have already been collected. The letter will be submitted today. I hope that the Indian team will get visas soon and will come to Pakistan," he added.

Foreign teams will start to arrive in Pakistan tomorrow.

Earlier, Pakistan granted visas to the Palestine baseball team to participate in the tournament.

"Visas have been issued to the 21-member Palestinian team," Fakhar said.

The West Asia Cup is a six-team event involving hosts Pakistan, Palestine, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Taking to Twitter Fakhar announced the dates of the tournament on January 21: "26 January to 1 February 2023. 15th west Asia cup."

The home side's preparations are in full swing ahead of the event. The Pakistan Federation Baseball took to its Twitter handle to share its enthusiasm for the tournament. Sharing pictures of the players during practice sessions, the federation tweeted: "Team Pakistan is preparing for the upcoming West Asia Cup in Islamabad, Pakistan."

It is worth mentioning here that, earlier, the Baseball Softball Federation of India (BSFI) wrote a letter to Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) to confirm their participation in the Baseball event of the XIV South Asian Games, which was initially scheduled to take place in March 2023, but the event was later postponed to March 2024 by South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC).