Pakistani government bars football team from participating in the SAFF Women’s Championship hosted in Goa, India.Pakistan will not participate in a South Asian women’s football tournament hosted by India after its team was not given clearance to travel due to ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two nations, Pakistani football officials told Al Jazeera.“We have not been issued an NOC [no objection certificate] by the relevant authorities,” a spokesperson of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship will be hosted in the Indian state of Goa from May 25 to June 7, and while Pakistan is a SAFF member nation, its team will not participate in the regional competition.Sport teams and individual athletes are required to obtain a clearance from the government before travelling to another country for a competition, and a strained relationship between the South Asian neighbours has put a halt to cross-border travel for sportspeople from both countries.Pakistan’s name was missing from the six-team tournament when SAFF revealed the schedule earlier on Wednesday.Group A features Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, while hosts India are drawn in Group B with the Maldives and defending champions Bangladesh.The tournament will be hosted at Goa’s Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which has previously hosted the men’s edition of the tournament.Hostile relations stain sports tournamentsIndia and Pakistan share a decades-old history of wars and hos …
