Authorities stop national table tennis team players from travelling abroad

LAHORE: Immigration officials stopped the players of Pakistan's national table tennis team from travelling abroad Wednesday night for an international competition here at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Geo News reported, citing sources.

The team — which comprises Asim Qureshi, Ramiz Hussain, Aisha Iqbal, Fatima Khan, and Mahmoodah — was reportedly flying to Sweden via a foreign airline to participate in the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships being held from April 29 to May 6, 2018.

They were stopped by immigration officials as well as the Federal Investigation Agency personnel, sources noted.

While explaining the reason immigration officials provided for their move to stop them from travelling, one of the players said they were barred from travelling Wednesday night for not having a letter of confirmation from the Ministry of Interior.

Sources, on the other hand, claimed it was the "grouping" in the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation that became the reason the authorities stopped national team players from travelling abroad.