New Delhi, November 25
The government may issue a multi-city visa to Pakistani cricket lovers planning to witness the forthcoming cricket series beginning December 25 if they provide tickets of the matches and return ticket besides having an Indian sponsor.

A committee formed within the Union Home Ministry has suggested that tickets to the venue and the return tickets would ensure regulating the visiting Pakistani cricket lovers, official sources said.

Union Home Ministry, while giving a go ahead for Indo-Pak cricket series, had conveyed to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it would have to abide by the rules framed for allowing Pakistani spectators to enter into India.

The move comes in the wake of reports of security agencies that as many as 12 Pakistanis had not returned after the 2007 cricket series. Besides, American born Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley had told the US investigators that wanted terrorist Sajid Mir had visited Mohali and the national capital as a cricket fan during which he had surveyed important installations, including National Defence College.

The Home Ministry has made it mandatory for each Pakistani cricket fan intending to witness the forthcoming cricket series beginning December 25 to have a local sponsor to get visa. — PTI