Akbar jets off to settle long-running visa row

Photo: Darren Robinson

Hamza Ackbar and his manager Mohammed Nisar

HAMZA Akbar, the Oldham Snooker Academy-based professional, has flown home to Pakistan in a bid to resolve his long-running visa row.

The 22-year-old has been in discussions with the authorities since August when he sought an extension to his two-year tier five sports visa for a further year.

He got one month, but his most recent application has been declined.

INSISTED

His manager, Mohammed Nisar, said: "I saw him onto the plane. It could take him as long as six weeks to get this sorted out as the visa authorities insisted he had to reapply through his country of origin.

"I am disappointed that it has come to this. If he been a professional footballer in the Premiership, he would never have had to fly to Pakistan to get it done. It would have just been a change of a date from September, 2016, to September, 2017."

Nisar was full of praise for World Snooker, the professional game's governing body, adding: "Director Simon Brownell and chairman Jason Ferguson have been incredibly helpful every step of the way, but in the end Hamza was left with no choice."

His absence means he will miss out on the important qualifying rounds of the Scottish Open, which started this week, and the German Masters (next Monday).

Earlier in the season Akbar hit the headlines when he was denied a visa to compete in the Indian Open in Hydrabad, for which he had come through qualifying at Preston, denying him the chance of at least £2,000 in prize money.