Pak bars cricketers from IPL

NEW DELHI: The Pakistani foreign office has barred its cricketers from travelling to India to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 matches. This move comes against the background of strained relations between the two countries in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attack.

In what is clearly a political decision, the foreign office has stopped five cricketers ��� Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Hafiz and Yasir Arafat ��� who were to travel to India for an IPL players auction in Goa on Friday.

"We have been informed by the foreign ministry that the situation is not conducive for Pakistan cricketers to travel to India," Pakistani sports minister Aftab Jilani told a news agency.

This move comes after the Pakistani sports ministry had given the go ahead for the cricketers to travel to India and even issued a no-objection certificate.

The Pakistani foreign office had also written to the Pakistan Cricket Board saying that their cricketers should not be sent to India for IPL matches, Pakistani reports said. The foreign office released a "three-point advisory" maintaining that the decision was made due to the current state of ties between India and Pakistan.

Mr Jilani said one of the reasons given by the Pakistani foreign office was that ties between India and Pakistan were strained after the Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistani cricketers, including Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Asif and Kamran Akmal were part of different IPL teams.

Even though India did not snap ties with Pakistan after the Mumbai attack, relations between the two neighbours are in a state of suspension. India has been asking Pakistan to take action against terror elements and to track down the perpetrators of the attacks.

The Mumbai attacks have thrown up strong Pakistani links, especially to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). India, which has handed over a terror dossier to Pakistan, further believes that sections of the Pakistani establishment were behind the Mumbai attacks.

In this atmosphere, the world of cricket has been one of the areas that has been affected. In December, New Delhi had cancelled the Indian team's tour of Pakistan on security grounds.

Immediately, the Pakistani government in retaliation had refused to give permission to its national hockey and squash teams to take part in tournaments in India citing security concerns.