Global Courant
The bitter rivals kick off on Wednesday with the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship.
The Pakistan national football team has been granted a visa to India, officials said, where they will face the hosts in their first game on Indian soil since 2014.
The South Asian neighbors kick off on Wednesday with the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship.
The two countries do not play home games against each other in any sport due to ongoing political tensions exacerbated by the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the removal of special status from Indian-administered Kashmir in 2019.
Pakistan’s participation in the Bengaluru event has raised hopes that Islamabad will take part in the ICC World Cup cricket tournament hosted by India later this year after previously threatening to boycott the event.
Pakistan Football Federation president Haroon Malik told Al Jazeera the visa approval was “a great sign and very important” and required “no objection certificates” to be obtained from both the Pakistan and Indian governments.
“This is a very positive sign and shows at least some degree of resumption of sporting ties,” said Malik, adding that the visas were received on Monday evening.
“We are very excited and looking forward to this tournament, and this is really the role of football – to unite the world and bring (people) closer.”
The last time Pakistan played football in India was in 2014 when they drew in a two-match series, but they also faced each other in the SAFF Championship in Bangladesh in 2018 with India winning 3-1.
Football is popular in both countries, but is eclipsed in popularity by cricket.
Despite the millions in revenue bilateral cricket matches would bring, the last time they played cricket on home soil was when Pakistan toured India in 2012 for five limited overs matches.
The eight-nation SAFF Championship kicks off on Wednesday, with Pakistan in Group A alongside India, Kuwait and Nepal, and Group B featuring Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The final is scheduled for July 4.
India is currently ranked 101st in FIFA’s world rankings while Pakistan is ranked 195th. Pakistani football has long been in turmoil over alleged political interference and violence.
FIFA lifted a 15-month suspension of the PFF in July 2022, imposed for third-party interference.
Ali Ahsan, the editor of SoccerPakistan.Coman online platform for Pakistani football, told Al Jazeera that Pakistan’s current squad has an average age of just 21 and is a mix of domestic and foreign players who have limited experience playing together.
“So this international football experience is crucial to get our right starting line-up and squad ready for the October qualifiers (2026 World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup). Pakistan remains the only AFC country that has not won a single World Cup qualifier in its history.” , Ahsan said.
“We need to end this streak that started in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, which we entered for the first time.”
Additional reporting by Abid Hussain in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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