ISLAMABAD: The UAE has issued visas to all players and support staff traveling to Abu Dhabi from India and South Africa for Pakistan Super League’s sixth edition, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) communications director, Sami Burni, said on Wednesday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said last week it had received the approval from the United Arab Emirates government to stage the remaining 20 matches of the suspended Pakistan Super League twenty20 tournament in Abu Dhabi.
The board’s flagship tournament was stopped after 14 games in March after seven individuals, including six players, tested positive for COVID-19.
“David Miller, Faf du Plessis, Herschelle Gibbs, Rilee Rossouw, Cameron Delport and Michael Smith have all received their travel documents,” Pakistani local news channel, Geo News, reported on its website. “All members of the support staff from South Africa were also issued travel visas by the UAE authorities.”
Rejecting speculation that the next edition of the league would not be held in Pakistan, Burni said” “The next PSL will also take place in Pakistan.”
On Tuesday, due to a reported delay in issuance of visas, the PCB had to postpone its scheduled charter flights to UAE to transfer players, officials and support staff for the remaining matches of PSL.
Two aircraft were scheduled to leave from Lahore and Karachi on Wednesday to take 233 passengers to Abu Dhabi for the PSL. However, a late-night message by the board on Tuesday stated that the flight had now been delayed by 24 hours.
UAE issues visas to players traveling from India, South Africa for PSL
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UAE issues visas to players traveling from India, South Africa for PSL
- Flagship tournament stopped after 14 games in March after seven individuals, including six players, tested positive for COVID-19
- Pakistan Cricket Board media director says next edition of series will be played in Pakistan
Three Afghan migrants die crossing into Iran as UN warns of new displacement toward Pakistan
- UNHCR says 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return from Iran this year, straining Afghanistan’s resources
- Rights groups warn forced refugee returns risk harm as Afghanistan faces food shortages and climate shocks
KABUL: Three Afghans died from exposure in freezing temperatures in the western province of Herat while trying to illegally enter Iran, a local army official said on Saturday.
“Three people who wanted to illegally cross the Iran-Afghanistan border have died because of the cold weather,” the Afghan army official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added that a shepherd was also found dead in the mountainous area of Kohsan from the cold.
The migrants were part of a group that attempted to cross into Iran on Wednesday and was stopped by Afghan border forces.
“Searches took place on Wednesday night, but the bodies were only found on Thursday,” the army official said.
More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which said that the majority were “forced and coerced returns.”
“These mass returns in adverse circumstances have strained Afghanistan’s already overstretched resources and services” which leads to “risks of onward and new displacement, including return movements back into Pakistan and Iran and onward,” UNHCR posted on its site dedicated to Afghanistan’s situation.
This week, Amnesty International called on countries to stop forcibly returning people to Afghanistan, citing a “real risk of serious harm for returnees.”
Hit by two major earthquakes in recent months and highly vulnerable to climate change, Afghanistan faces multiple challenges.
It is subject to international sanctions particularly due to the exclusion of women from many jobs and public places, described by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
More than 17 million people in the country are facing acute food insecurity, the UN World Food Program said Tuesday.
