Pakistan bars cricketers from playing in IPL

Saleem Altaf, the chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board said they had received copy of a letter from the Foreign Affairs Ministry sent to the Sports Ministry which declined permission to the players to travel to India for the Twenty20 tournament.

Karachi, Feb 2: Pakistan today barred its cricketers from playing in the high-profile Indian Premier League, a decision which is bound to further strain the sporting ties between the two countries. Saleem Altaf, the chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board said they had received copy of a letter from the Foreign Affairs Ministry sent to the Sports Ministry which declined permission to the players to travel to India for the Twenty20 tournament. "All the players who are already signed up with the IPL teams or those who were due to take part in the players auction have been declined permission," Altaf said. While around a dozen players are already signed up with different franchises, five other cricketers were due to be auctioned in Goa on February 5. Altaf said the Sports Ministry had said they had no objection to the cricketers going to India. "But when the Sports Ministry sought advice from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, they said it would not be possible to allow players to travel to India for the IPL," he added. Sources in the PCB said basically the Foreign Affairs Ministry had said Pakistani cricketers could face security problems in India due to the tense relations between the two countries. PTI

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