Pakistan lost 4-0 to India in their first SAFF Championship game, failing to cause any upsets again the Blue Tigers. A sublime hat trick by Sunil Chhetri rounded off an utterly dominating performance from the Indian football team. However, Pakistans lacklustre performance might be partly down to their arduous journey to Bengaluru, according to their coach.Torben Witajewski, assistant coach of the Pakistan team, has claimed that the travel and immigration issues, including the late issuance of visas, have contributed to the shocking performance of the Pakistani players.Received the visas very late, very tough situation: Pak coachAccording to Witajewski, the Pakistan team received their travel visas to India very late, and there were other issues with immigration at the Mumbai airport. The 16-hour journey culminated in the team reaching the hotel a mere six hours before the tie, giving the players little chance to rest or recuperate.Due to the visa issues at the Indian High Commission in Mauritius, the Pakistan team received their visas late, and could not find seats in a single aircraft for the entire 32-strong group. The team had to be broken into two groups, with the latter facing immigration issues at the Mumbai airport and subsequently reaching Bengaluru past 1:00 PM.Importantly, there was a real chance that the Pakistan team would not be able to get their visas on time, with both the event organisers and the AIFF rushing against time to process the travel visas. The first effort failed, and the visa was finally issued on Monday, throwing cold water into the Pakistan teams travel plans.Team Update all the way from Bangalore! 🇮🇳#wearepakistanfootball #dilsayfootball #shaheens pic.twitter.com/RvA4tJAkOQ— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) June 21, 2023Without travel issues, Pak performance would be different, claims coachWhile detailing their visa and travel issues, coach Witajewski claimed that the lack of sleep contributed to the Pakistani teams lifeless performance, and admitted that no one could “expect a lot from the guys” after their ordeal.“But if we had more time the performance would be different,” he added.Pakistan face Kuwait tomorrow in their second match of the SAFF Championship, with kick-off at 3:30 PM.
