Kathmandu. Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) has requested Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha to initiate the visa process of cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane.
On Monday, officials including CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand and a team including Lamichhane met Foreign Minister Shrestha and requested him to initiate the visa process.
One week left for the ICC T-20 World Cup. The visa process started to include Sandeep in Nepal’s team was rejected by the American Embassy in Nepal. Since then, with only a week left, Can has started the initiative.
In the meeting with the team, Foreign Minister Shrestha promised to talk on Tuesday as the US embassy was closed on Monday. Foreign Minister Shrestha had already called the ministry to talk about it and promised to call again to discuss it.
In order to keep Sandeep’s name, Nepal has now named 14 people in the team. Chairman Chand has said that if Sandeep’s visa is granted, it will be 15 and if Sandeep’s visa is not granted, the name of one person in America will be added.
Sandeep, who had started the visa process for the World Cup after the high court acquitted him in the rape case, was refused a visa by the American Embassy. After that, CAN is taking the initiative to get a visa through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Even though there is an initiative from a higher authority, the American Embassy said that we cannot comment on any specific visa case as visa related records are confidential according to American law. Nepal is starting the World Cup by playing against the Netherlands on June 4.
