WAQAR Ahmed, a Pakistani national based in Qatar, thought he was among the lucky ones. In the online crowd of desperate fans, he managed to secure three tickets for the eagerly awaited Pakistan-India Champions Trophy clash, scheduled for Feb 23.

After the excitement and fervour settled in, Mr Ahmed and his friends began working on their visa applications.

For its 2025 edition, Pakistan was set to host the Champions Trophy. But, only three months before the tournament, the Indian government decided not to allow their team to visit Pakistan.

Henceforth, began a painfully long silence, until it was finally announced in Dec that Dubai would host all of India`s matches.And so, most fans, including Mr Ahmed, began to scramble for a place in the stands of the Dubai International Stadium to watch the high-octane contest.

Unfortunately, this is where Mr Ahmed and his friends` luck ran out. Despite securing tickets, when he applied for the UAE visa on Feb 4, he received a rejection the same evening.

`I had applied for the visa under the category of GCC residence people who live in the Gulf Cooperation Council member states but my application was rejected without any reasons mentioned, he told Dawn.com.

Nasir Chaudhry, who works in the energy sector in Islamabad, narrated a similar experience. After the schedule for the matches was revealed, he was working his fingers to the bone to secure a UAE visa.

`Before this, we were already facing visa issues even for our official commitments scheduled in Dubai,` he recalled.

To Mr Chaudhry`s dismay, his visa application, as well as those of nearly all his friends, were rejected without any reason.

Concerns regarding the rejection of UAE visas, particularly for Pakistani applicants, have been expressed for some months now.

Travel agents also recounted witnessinga similar pattern where despite meeting all requirements, visa applications were being rejected, excluding a few exceptions.

A Karachi-based travel agent told Dawn.com that more recently, only four-day tourist visas applied through airlines, Emirates in this case, were being approved.

But even this was subject to certain conditions, one of them being flying with the airline in question.`There is still a 30 per cent rejection ratio, even in this situation,` he said, adding that the applicant has to first purchase a ticket and then apply for the visa.

According to reports, the UAE authorities have lately increased the scrutiny of Pakistanis arriving in the country due to their alleged involvement in crime and unlawful activities, like begging.

In a meeting on Jan 9, the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development was told that visas to the UAE had been`unofficially closed` and its government had reservations that Pakistanis, on visit visas, beg in the country.

On the other hand, during an interview with Geo News in November last year, the Consul General of UAE in Karachi, Dr Bakheet Ateeg Alremeithi, revealed that Pakistanis may be facing visa rejections due to negative social media activities.

Mr Alremeithi also stated that there had been complaints regarding the conduct of certain Pakistani social media influencers in the UA E, espe cially on platforms such as TikTok, resulting in dissatisfaction from the UAE government and prompting stricter visa regulations that have raised concerns for Pakistani travellers. He also clarified that there was no ban on UAE visas for Pakistani nationals.

Dawn.com reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, but received no response until the filing of this report.

Meanwhile, Pakistan`s Envoy to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi said that the Pakistan embassy in the UAE was fully aware of the enthusiasm of cricket fans across the border who wish to travel to Dubai to support their team during the Champions Trophy.

`While the issuance of visas falls underthe jurisdiction of the host country`s immigration authorities, the Embassy remains committed to facilitating Pakistani nationals in every possible way,` he said.

All this means that fans of the very country hosting the Champions Trophy would not be able to attend some of the key matches of the tournament. Ironic, right? So what is the government and the sports board doing for them? In a press briefing last week, when confronted with a question pertaining to UAE visa issues, the Foreign Office spokesperson insisted that there was no ban on the same.

`There are so many Pakistanis already travelling; all flights are booked.

Separately, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson said: `The PCB has already spoken with the concerned authorities and has requested them to entertain valid ticket-holders by facilitating them with visas.

Dawn also reached out to PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi for further information, but didn`t receive a response.

With input from Abdullah Mohmand. A detailed version of this article can be accessed on Dawn.com