Pakistan on Tuesday faced fresh embarrassment as Japan has accused it of attempting human trafficking through a fake football team.
Amid the cricket-related handshake controversy with India, Pakistan faced fresh embarrassment on Tuesday as Japan issued a warning over allegations that it had sent a “fake” football team. The bogus football team was deported from Japan after authorities alleged a possible human-trafficking attempt. The group carried forged documents and falsely claimed to be players from a fictitious Sialkot team.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Malik Waqas, a key suspect in the human smuggling scam, registered a football club under the name ‘Golden Football Trial’. According to a report by Pakistani news agency Geo News, Waqas, a human trafficker, received Rs 4 million from each individual to send them abroad via illegal means.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) reported that 22 individuals posing as a football team departed from Sialkot airport for Japan, where authorities discovered their documents were fraudulent and promptly deported them.
According to a PIA spokesperson, the individuals were coached to appear as professional football players. The spokesperson added that Waqas had arranged forged documents, including fake Pakistan Football Federation registrations and counterfeit papers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, the FIA arrested Waqas and opened an investigation. During questioning, he admitted to previously sending 17 people to Japan in January 2024 using the same scheme.
Pakistan remains in the spotlight over a cricket spat with India following a crushing loss in the ongoing Asia Cup. Tensions between the two nations surfaced on the field when players skipped handshakes before and after their match in Dubai.
According to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe asked both captains — India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha — not to shake hands during the coin toss on Sunday, September 14.
In a late-night statement released in Urdu, the PCB condemned Pycroft’s directive as “against sportsmanship’ and said team manager Naveed Akram Cheema registered a formal protest with the International Cricket Council, which has yet to comment publicly.
Notably, the cricket match was the first between India and Pakistan since the Pahalgam attack in April. In the post-match presentation ceremony, captain Suryakumar Yadav said that he and Team India stand by I the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. He even dedicated the massive win to the Indian Army.
