No Singapore Visa for Sunil Chhetri, Belal Arezou & Churchill Alemao

Issuing Visas for footballers and officials playing in the continental AFC Cup is a growing problem across Asia as this time I-League side Churchill Brothers SC were hit as club patron Churchill Alemao, India captain Sunil Chhetri and Afghanistan striker Belal Arezou did not receive a visa on application for Singapore last week.

Churchill Brothers are supposed to play S-League side Warrior FC on Wednesday, April 10 at the Jalan Besar Stadium and the squad left for Singapore yesterday without their patron and their two strikers.

A club official told news agency PTI, "On Friday the club got a letter from Singapore Consulate in Mumbai that Chhetri, Arezou and Alemao will not be granted visas to travel to Singapore. The consulate gave no reason for the rejection. The players and Alemao will re-apply again."

As the unnamed club official stated no official reason was given by the Singapore Consulate in Mumbai on why the three were not given visas for the upcoming AFC Cup match in the city state.

If Sunil Chhetri and Belal Arezou are not granted visas for Singapore, then the Churchill Brothers prospects in the match and their qualification for the knockout stages would be hit significantly.